The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal has stated that he assumed office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka at the request of the President and did not think about the salary at that point. Cabraal says he is currently receiving a very low salary based on his professional qualifications.
He also stated that although he had been the Governor of the Central Bank for nearly nine years, he had not even obtained his duty-free vehicle permit.
“I have been the Governor of the Central Bank for almost 9 years. I am a Chartered Accountant with 40 years of experience. I worked at the Central Bank for 70,000 rupees a month. I don’t think even a newly graduated accountant would work for that amount. I worked for that salary for 7 years. It was only later that I saw in my appointment letter that I had a pension. Four years later I asked the then-governor if he had a letter like this and asked if he would pay me for it. Then he wrote to me that he will look into this and inform me. A few months later I was informed that this was not worth paying for. I dropped the subject from there. I never spoke beyond that. I did not even write a letter on it. I did not even tell the political revenge unit. But, I was notified a few months later that a pension would be paid to me. I asked them to pay me what I have to be paid and I will accept it. But I said I would not make a request again.
I worked as the Governor of the Central Bank for 9 years and did not get a duty-free license. I could have taken it and sold it. It’s not like two and a half million. If I wanted to buy it, I could have sold it for 30 million. But I did not take it. “
The Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal stated this addressing a media briefing held at the Government Information Department yesterday (12).