It was pointed out yesterday by the ministers of the opposition as well as the ruling party that even though before declaring Sri Lanka as a bankrupt country in April last year Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, should have informed the Parliament about the financial situation and sought the approval of the Parliament, which has the financial power of the country, no such thing had happened.
That was during the parliamentary debate on the interim budget.
Lakshman Kiriella (SJB)-“Yesterday, the Governor of the Central Bank came to the Parliament to give a speech. In his speech, he said that when he took office, the Central Bank had only 20 million American dollars. I asked if Parliament was informed of this situation. But there was no answer! Because the ‘power of money’ belongs to the Parliament. Everyone has acted irresponsibly.”
Bandula Gunawardena (SLPP) – “I also agree that the central bank should present the matter to the parliament. It was not presented that way! So this Honorable House has to examine the question of whether the Central Bank has fulfilled its responsibility in this way.
Vajira Abeywardena (UNP) – “The central bank has no power to bankrupt the country. They could have called the representatives of the parliament in April and told them that there is such a problem in the country, what should be done. Then this whole parliament should have got together to take a decision that day”
