Charitha Herath to conduct research on SL’s fiscal and public debt management

Wednesday, 12 July 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MP Prof. Charitha Herath

Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) member MP Prof. Charitha Herath yesterday announced he would release a research report on Sri Lanka’s fiscal and public debt management within three months.

Herath said the research will be conducted externally and independently of the Parliament through the party’s People’s Investigation Committee led by him.

“The special parliamentary committee appointed to probe the causes of Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy has turned into a farcical joke. The opposition has stepped down from the committee, turning it into a committee consisting of Pohottuwa members alone,” he said. “Appointing such a committee at a time when the people are rejecting the entire parliament will only further enrage the people,” he added.

The MP noted that he as the then Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) decided on 4 July 2022 to conduct a special inquiry into the country’s economic and public debt management.

“However, the situation in Sri Lanka on 9 July 2022 and the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as President on 20 July brought these efforts to an abrupt halt. One of his first acts as President was to suspend parliament in a manner that led to the dissolution of CoPE,” he said.

The MP said the act impeded the investigation from being carried out.

“I will commence the investigation which was stopped and complete it within the next three months,” the MP announced.