President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday charged that the Central Bank has failed in its duty over the collapse of ETI Investments and cannot shy away from the responsibility.

The onus on the Central Bank was emphasised when the inquiring committee appointed to investigate alleged irregularities in the ETI Investments met President yesterday.

The Committee informed the President that the ETI Investments had not followed the proper procedures in their conduct from its inception. It had invested its assets in other institutes and at the same time, it had not been supervised by the Central Bank, the Committee pointed out.

“President Rajapaksa instructed the Committee to investigate into the irregularities in depth and pay more attention to return people their deposits immediately. The Central Bank cannot evade its responsibility in this matter, the President emphasised,” stated a communique from the President’s Media.

“The Central Bank is obligated to protect depositors if any irregularities are discovered in a financial institution. The Central Bank has failed in its duty, the President said,” the communique added.

Retired Supreme Court Judge K.T. Chitrasiri chairs the three-member committee. The other members are retired Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath and Senior Banker D.M. Gunasekara. Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera also participated in this meeting.

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