Uproar over resolution to issue Rs. 1 trillion treasury bills

• Issuing of treasury bills would be illegal as the approval given by the  public finance committee is not  valid

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

An uproar flared up in Parliament yesterday on the decision made by the government to raise Rs. 1 trillion through treasury bills as an urgent need. Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa who objected to the decision said the issuing of treasury bills would be illegal as the approval given by the public finance committee to go ahead with the Treasury bill issue is not valid. “The approval given by the finance committee is not valid as it has to function under a permanent chairman.” Decisions made at the meeting of the public finance committee, which is chaired by an acting chairman is not valid. The current acting chairman represents the ruling party. This is a violation of standing orders. Standing orders clearly state that the finance committee has to be chaired by an opposition MP,” he said. 

MP Dayasiri Jayasekera also came up with the same idea and said illegal moves would be noticed by the IMF.
Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga said the opposition should find a suitable person as the chairman of the public finance committee. “We can consider any name as the chairman of the public finance committee if the opposition comes up with some names,” he said. “An MP from the opposition was appointed as the Chairperson of the finance committee and the opposition SJB inflicted undue influence on him to resign. Therefore, it is the opposition which created the issue,” he added.

Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the money is to be raised to meet the salary bill. “Salary Bill of the government and the funds spent for welfare has always been high. Also it is not possible to print money as per the IMF agreement. I also propose that the Treasury presents a report on total state expenditure to the House on a monthly basis so that the MP will be aware about the expenditure,” he said.       

• The current acting chairman represents the ruling party. This is a violation of standing orders