Ranil appoints 3 members to probe bond fiasco in consultation with Sirisena

Wednesday, 11 March 2015 00:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed the three members to the Commission to probe the recent Treasury bond issuance, ina follow up to a decision made by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The trio are GaminiPitipana (Chairman), Mahesh Kalugampitiya and ChandimalMendis. The Prime Minister’s office said the Committee had been instructed to look into the issue of Treasury Bonds and provide report without delay. “The Government will take the necessary future action after observing the findings of this committee,” the PM’s Office added. It said urgent attention of the Government has been drawn to the different opinions expressed regarding the Treasury bond issue which was declared on 27February. “The Prime Minister, after having consulted the President over the phone, decided to appoint a three-member committee to investigate matters concerning the issue,” the PM’s office said.

Finance Minister says nothing wrong in bond Issue

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday said that there was nothing to worry about over the Central Bank’s Rs. 1 billion Treasury bond issue. “I see nothing wrong with this transaction,” he told a media conference. “All this time the bond issue was done via private placements. This time the Central Bank only tried to issue bonds in a more transparent way, replacing private placements,” he added. The Minister also said that the Government had appointed a committee which would also prove that there was nothing wrong with that particular transaction as alleged. “We wanted money to continue our economic activities. I think it is just a certain group of people that are trying to create a mountain out of a molehill,” quipped Karunanayake. (CDS)