Harsha hits back at Cabraal

National Policies and Economic Affairs State Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva, in a brief statement to the Daily FT, responded to allegations made in yesterday’s edition by former Central Bank Governor Ajith Cabraal of purported manipulation of the country’s GDP.

The following is Dr. De Silva’s full statement. 

I read with amusement the fiction by Mr. Ajith Cabraal in your esteemed newspaper today making wild allegations against an imaginary organised group of politicians and senior officials for having carefully manipulated GDP figures every quarter since 2015.

While it is part and parcel of the job for politicians to be subjected to such criticism it is certainly not the case for senior officials of the government; in this case at the highest levels of the Department of Census, Treasury and the Central Bank. While I categorically deny all accusations leveled against me, I am certain the officials will respond in detail soon to separate fiction from fact.