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Friday Sep 20, 2024
Friday, 28 March 2014 00:48 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) was proved wrong yesterday for “violating Article 148 of the Constitution” and publishing the annual accounts of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in national newspapers before it reached Parliament, which holds full control over public finance in Sri Lanka.
UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva alleged that ignoring Parliament was a “deliberate attempt to buy time till people forget the scandalous mismanagement of the fund”. EPF’s assets are worth over Rs. 1 trillion. With the CBSL recently taking the effort to set the record straight through media, Dr. de Silva believes the upholding of Constitutional rights is of paramount importance where Article 148, 149 and 150 clearly elaborate the control of Parliament over public finance, consolidated funds and the withdrawal of sums from consolidated funds in principle.
“The CBSL should send the annual accounts to the Auditor General and from there with his remarks it gets channelled to Parliament. A simple newspaper advertisement will not help the public know how their monies are being managed. The annual accounts for 2008 were tabled in the Parliament on 11 June 2010, the 2009 report on 8 September 2011, and the report for 2010 was tabled on 25 May 2012. But where is the 2011 report? We have been waiting for over two years to get these accounts giving out the facts about the during which period EPF funds were used to pump and dump the stocks listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange,” said Dr. de Silva.
Refuting the CBSL’s accusations of spreading wrong information on the EPF and the fund management system, he said: “I did not give the public false information. The CBSL is accusing an Opposition politician for misleading the public. I am the only Opposition MP who kept exposing the issues related to the EPF. So the CBSL is wrong again. To avoid future issues and possible malpractices, I suggest that the Government include a member from the private sector on the Board which takes investment decisions related to the EPF. Good governance policies need to be adopted rather than talking about them loud in the public.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the EPF said the financial statements were submitted to the Auditor General within the timeframe as provided in the law, and now the audited financial statements of the EPF for 2011 along with the Annual Report have been submitted to the Cabinet by the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations. Therefore, in terms of Section 6(4) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Act No. 15 of 1958, the audited financial statements are due to be presented to the Parliament shortly by the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations.
It also said the financial statements for 2012 have also been published in the newspapers on 28 June 2013. Further, the financial statements are presently being audited by the Auditor General and the EPF is ready to submit the Annual Report to the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations once the audit report is finalised.
