A Fresh move to invest EPF in Colombo Stock Market : Harsha

By Yohan Perera  

A fresh move is on to invest the EPF in the Colombo Stock market putting the monies which belong to the working class people in jeopardy, an SJB MP said yesterday.  

SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva told a press conference that this fresh move is aimed at pushing the market up as it had begun to decline.  

“The stock market was going up in the recent past as many investors were selling off their shares and were taking the proceeds to their respective countries. Around 90 percent of the investors have sold their shares,” he said.  
“The market has begun to experience a down turn recently and the government is out to adopt a pump and dump policy once again,” he added.  

Also he alleged that moves are on to engage in insight trading where EPF may be used to purchase shares of the institutions which are controlled by the Central Bank.  

Dr. De Silva said the country’s economy is in shambles with foreign reserves going down to US $ 4.5 billion while the gold which the country is holding has declined to $ 381 million. “This means that Sri Lanka’s foreign currency is only sufficient for three months. Sri Lanka had asked for $ 2.2 billion from China but it has got only $ 1.1 billion while it is not clear whether the billion dollars which Sri Lanka had requested will be given or not. In addition the price of crude oil is reaching $ 70 a barrel. On top of that the rate of Sri Lanka’s sovereign bonds and development bonds had exceeded 40 percent. This is a fearful situation as Sri Lanka could reach insolvency status soon,” he said.  

This means that Sri Lanka’s foreign currency is only sufficient for three months. Sri Lanka had asked for $ 2.2 billion from China but it has got only $ 1.1 billion while it is not clear whether the billion dollars which Sri Lanka had requested will be given or not