JO demands committee to calculate loss due to bond scam

Wednesday, 2 November 2016 00:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Joint Opposition (JO) yesterday called on President Maithripala Sirisena to appoint an independent committee of professionals to calculate the losses incurred by the Government due to the Central Bank bond scam.

Speaking to media, JO Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardena said that a committee should include economic specialists, finance specialists, chartered accountants and officers of the Statistic Department.

“We think that the controversial Treasury Bonds issue has made a loss of over Rs.1000 b. But this is just a drafted calculation. The Government should identify what the exact the loss is,” he said.

Gunawardena also said the Government should draw up a comprehensive policy to rebuild the image and the trustworthiness of the Central Bank after the damage the bond scam caused to the reputation of the institution.

“The primary market, secondary market and the foreign reserves were negatively affected by the controversy over the bond issue and it caused huge damage to the image maintained by the Central Bank for decades. The Government is responsible to ensure that this image is rebuilt,” he said.

Gunawardena highlighted that the foreign reserves has reduced by close to Rs. 150 b due to the negative impact of the controversial Treasury bonds issue.

He also claimed the state debit has increased due to devaluation of the Rupee against US dollar.

“The rupee was depreciated due to the impact of the controversial bonds scam,” he stressed.

Gunawardana further said foreign investors had withdrawn their money invested in stock market as well.

“Rs.300 b has been withdrawn by foreign investors from February 2015 to date due to financial concerns,” he said.