Suriyapperuma’s appointment as Treasury Secretary

The Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma’s resignation from Parliament and his subsequent and surprising appointment to the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, ended the guesswork and doubts about the successor of Mahinda Siriwardana, who relinquished his duties as Treasury Secretary last Monday to take up a high-profile position at the ADB. 

There was speculation in the media that Siriwardana was going to be succeeded by the Ernst & Young – Country Partner cum Economic Adviser to the President Duminda Hulangamuwa. However, when Hulangamuwa was mentioned as a replacement to the highly professional and erudite technocrat Siriwardana, a considerable disapproval was expressed by many sections of the society due to the serious conflict of interest that could have arisen had the former been appointed. 

Interestingly, the NPP prior to last year’s Presidential election, vowed to appoint independent and skilled professionals to leading posts in the public service. What was more, it was none other than the former Deputy Minister of Finance who claimed that an NPP administration apart from giving full independence to the Central Bank, would also make the Treasury completely independent from political influence – a scenario which does not exist anywhere in the world – at the debate titled “Defining the Vision”, which was hosted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on 29 August last year to discuss and evaluate the economic policies of the four main presidential candidates. 

The newly appointed Treasury Secretary’s baffling remark at the said event puzzled many in the audience on that day, which included the incumbent CB Governor as well as Suriyapperuma’s predecessor at the front row. The declaration of the former MP drew the ire of Dr. Harsha de Silva, who represented the Opposition leader at the debate. The SJB MP, having observed the ludicrousness of his counterpart’s comment, pointed out that the Treasury can never be made independent and it needed to be influenced by the political authority in order to execute the policies and programs of elected political administrations. Following the debate, people even began to question Suriyapperuma’s understanding of the principle concepts of the economy.

Demonstrating a great twist of irony, a former MP has been appointed as the Treasury Secretary for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka even though the appointee himself prior to the last Presidential election pledged that the Treasury would not come under any sort of political influence under an NPP-led Government. Prior to the Presidential election, Suriyapperuma was mentioned as a contender for the post of Finance Minister besides Sunil Handunneththi and Prof. Anil Jayantha by none other than the then MP cum NPP leader Anura Kumara Disanayake. But contrary to his pre-election statements, the President kept the finance portfolio with him after the election and despite his harsh criticism of Siriwardana while in the Opposition, the latter was retained as Treasury Secretary.

With no full-time minister or deputy minister in charge of the important portfolio, the former National List MP would now virtually be in charge of the most important ministry similar to Dr. P.B. Jayasundera during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Historically, the prestigious position has been occupied either by the illustrious officers of the civil/public service like R. Paskaralingam, and Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, or career central bankers in the calibre of Siriwardana and S.R. Attygalle. The choice of the CIMA-qualified accountant resembles the appointment of Charitha Ratwatte during the two-year premiership tenure of Ranil Wickremesinghe from 2002-04. Yet, although the trusted confidante of the former president was neither a central banker nor SLAS officer, he had the experience of serving as Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Affairs before his selection as Treasury Secretary.

Compared to all of his predecessors, Suriyapperuma’s experience in terms of public policy formulation and implementation is not very extensive. Nevertheless, fortunately for him, his predecessor had built a solid foundation in terms of introducing robust reforms within the sphere of taxation, and the new appointee would be well advised to pursue with the present reformist trajectory.