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CBSL Governor urges appointment of a Finance Minister

20 May 2022

  • States a Minister is required for debt restructuring
  By Imsha Iqbal  The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) emphasised the need for the appointment of a Finance Minister for further political stability in the country, which is undergoing an economic crisis, and for the smooth functioning of the debt restructuring. “I would like to see a Finance Minister, so that the Minister has the authority to sign off the policies that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will require us to implement,” stated CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe yesterday (19) during the press conference that was held on the Monetary Policy Review No. 04 of 2022. He made this remark in response to a question raised by a journalist on the crucial next step in starting the debt restructuring process.  He also said the Central Bank has almost finalised decisions pertaining to debt restructuring and that these would be submitted to Cabinet for approval, adding that regardless of the absence of a Finance Minister, Cabinet had the authority to approve such. Thus, the CBSL will submit its financial and legal advice to Cabinet in a couple of days. Dr. Weerasinghe also commended the improvement in political stability in comparison to the incidents a week earlier.     “If you look at the situation at the time, there was no Prime Minister, and there was no Cabinet. There was a lot of violence happening in the country. There was both social and political instability,” he said. In comparison today, the country has appointed a Prime Minister and Parliament is functioning with a number of Cabinet Ministers appointed as well.  “We (the CBSL) are only waiting for the Finance Minister,” he said.   The former Finance Minister was Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Ali Sabry, who was also Minister of Justice. He was appointed after the resignation of the previous Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa.  


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