EPF is well managed, not corrupt: CB Chief

Thursday, 20 October 2011 01:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Cheranka Mendis

Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal yesterday declared that the country’s biggest fund, the EPF, was well managed and not corrupted, in remarks that signalled an apparent dismissal of allegations levelled by the main opposition UNP.

Sri Lanka’s largest fund, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will hold a balance that exceeds Rs. 1,000 billion by the end of the year, Cabraal added.

“The monies coming in to the EPF fund have been managed successfully without any complaints of corruption for the past 50 years. The monies have been efficiently and successfully managed by the management,” Governor Cabraal said after opening the standalone new office of the EPF at the Lloyd’s Building in Sir Baron Jayatilleke Mawatha, Colombo.

The Central Bank Chief’s reference perhaps took cognisance of UNP MP and its Chief Spokesman for Economic Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva on Tuesday renewing a warning over the fate of EPF’s questionable investments in the currently negative stock market. De Silva alleged that EPF must follow its own investment guidelines and code of professional conduct instead of being influenced by highhanded officials who have political aspirations or else members would soon begin to suffer

“Many have, over the years advised us to hand over the management of the fund to a foreign company,” Cabraal admitted. However, such a move is not in the plans,” he added.

“Everyone thinks they can do a better job. Many international agencies have asked us to hand over the running of the EPF to well- reputed international agencies. However, it must be noted that we are managing this with some of the best brains in the country. We will not give it away to anyone else. This is what we tell everyone who comes to give us such advice.”

Cabraal stated that last year, the EPF exceeded the amount collected from private provident funds. The reason, he said, was the long-term visioning and planning that went into managing the fund. “It is not managed as a hedge fund, it’s not something that takes just two or three days,” he expressed. “It is operated on a long-term motion with immense planning going into it.”

The EPF is said to have had an asset base of Rs. 769.3 billion as at December 2009, which was equivalent to 16% of GDP. Governor Cabraal said that by end 2011, the total fund base of EPF would top the Rs. 1 trillion mark from Rs. 900 billion as at end 2010.