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Changes done by CBSL management: Attygalle

25 Sep 2021

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The Ministry of Finance maintains that neither the Monetary Board nor the Treasury was involved in the recent reshuffle of several senior officials at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), The Sunday Morning learnt. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle said the transfers or reshuffle of senior officials at CBSL were done by the Central Bank’s management and not by the Ministry or the Monetary Board. “The appointments to the Monetary Board are done by the President,” he added. Following the appointment of Assistant Governor J.P.R. Karunaratne as the new Secretary to the Monetary Board, replacing Assistant Governor K.M.A.N. Daulagala, with effect from 15 September, the CBSL claimed the move as standard practice, after the appointment of new Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. The move, however, raised concerns over the independence of the CBSL. Initially, Daulagala was appointed the Deputy Secretary to the Monetary Board in late 2015, following the creation of the special post. She was promoted as Secretary to the Monetary Board in November 2018, as Assistant Governor H.A. Karunaratne vacated the post after holding it for 29 months, as he was promoted as a Deputy Governor. Meanwhile, former Central Province Governor and former Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) and Centre for Human Rights and Research Sri Lanka Executive Director Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon filed a writ of mandamus, prohibition, and certiorari in the Court of Appeal against the appointment of former State Minister Cabraal as CBSL Governor. Opposition parliamentarian Manusha Nanayakkara also filed a fundamental rights (FR) petition before the Supreme Court (SC), challenging Cabraal’s appointment as CBSL Governor. In his petition, Nanayakkara named the Attorney General (AG), Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, the CBSL’s Monetary Board, President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, and Cabraal himself as the respondents. Attempts made by The Sunday Morning to contact CBSL Governor Cabraal and Minister of Finance Rajapaksa for comment were futile.


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