Harsha slams Cabraal, Monetary Board over failure to respond to parliament

• Stresses Parliament has sole responsibility and authority on public finance 
• Criticises Finance Minister for not attending parliament to respond to questions

By Nishel Fernando
The Opposition lawmaker Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday slammed Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the members of the Monetary Board for failing to appear before the Committee on Public Finance of parliament.

Taking part in the debate on amendments to the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act in parliament yesterday, Dr.de Silva charged that CB Governor and Monetary Board members have insulted parliament by undermining its authority as the sole responsible authority 
on public finance.

“They didn’t come today. They sent a fax at 10.45 a.m. informing that they are unable to come today. Who’s the authority here? This is a total insult to parliament. You cannot violate the Constitution like this,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Dr.de Silva claimed that a State-owned Bank has default to a foreign party.

“We were informed this morning that a State-owned Bank has defaulted. We urge the government to look into this immediately,” he added.

As the Central Bank had artificially held the rupee at 200 against the US dollar before allowing it to float earlier this month, Dr.de Silva claimed that some banks in dire need of forex had entered into forward contracts with negative premium to purchase US$ at Rs.200 and to sell them at Rs.185 in three months.

“These banks are incurring Rs.100 per each US$ as the rupee has depreciated to Rs.285-290 against the dollar now. These are public money,” he stressed.

He noted that the parliament is struggling to maintain its oversight over public finance as CB officials and officials of the Finance Ministry including the Finance Minister continue to avoid parliament.

“The Finance Minister does not respond to our questions. He hasn’t come to the parliament for three months,” he added.