Mr.Prime Minister, The Dollar Stops At Your Doorstep!
Sarath De Alwis
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” – Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
Things have not changed much since Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations. We have a scandal tainted past. We cannot erase it. But we can put it right. Therefore we should insist that Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe take responsibility for the scandal that has undermined the credibility of the reform agenda of President Maithrpala Sirisena.
Corruption in Central Banks is nothing new. It has happened in our Central Bank and in other Central Banks.
Experts and Scholars are on record that “corruption flourishes where agents have monopoly power plus discretion and where accountability is weak”
Our Central Bank has had the malaise for nearly a decade. It began with President Mahinda Rajapaksaappointing his own Governor. The aberration was made a tradition by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who filled the position with his own nominee. The hands on and go getter Prime Minister has got his hands dirty in the first hundred days.
The recent bond deal involves the Bank of Ceylon – the nation’s premier state owned bank. In lightning speed, the Bank of Ceylon, headed by a senior Lawyer and UNP working committee member seems to have approved a credit line of Rs. 3 billion to the Primary Dealer whose bid was accepted by the Central Bank’s Treasury Bond Tender Committee.
Unless the new Governor had changed the composition of the Tender Committee its member ship includes several high ranking officials in addition to the Deputy Governor and the Additional Superintendent of Public debt. They are the Director of Economic Research, the Assistant Governor in charge of Public Debt, Director of Domestic Operations and the Superintendent of Public Debt as the Secretary of the Tender Committee. Transparency and Good Governance commenced with the swearing in of President Maithripala Sirisena on 9th January at Independence square.Read More
