(Status at 17th June 2022)
During Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe’s period in office of 73 days so far upto 17th June 2022, a staggering amount of Rs.316 billion has been printed at an average Rs.4.3 billion per day (double that of Lakshman or Cabraal’s periods). Mind you, this is even after he pompously announced that he is “fiercely independent” of the government and after he increased interest rates by an unprecedented 7%. Also, since he got Sri Lanka to default on it’s Forex debt from 12th April 2022, no money has been needed to buy Forex to settle foreign debt as well.
In contrast, during Governor Lakshman’s period of 551 days after Covid from 12th March 2020 to 14th September 2021, Rs.1,206 billion was printed at an average of Rs.2.2 billion per day. Further, during Governor Cabraal’s tenure in office of 203 days from 15th September 2021 to 5th April 2022, Rs.446 billion was printed at an average Rs.2.2 billion per day. During the period in office of those two, interest rates were 7% less, and money had to be allocated to buy the Forex to settle the foreign debt as well.
