CBSL Governor prepared to appear before Parliament to provide answers

If there are delays in providing answers to questions raised by Members of Parliament regarding Sri Lanka’s economy, Central Bank representatives are prepared to appear before Parliament and provide answers directly, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe has stated.

The Governor gave the undertaking when Central Bank officials were summoned before the Committee on Public Finance.

During the meeting, Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Harsha de Silva raised concerns over the lack of response for questions related to monetary policy, inflation and exchange rates in Parliament.

Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Harsha de Silva, asked:

“Governor, when a Member of Parliament raises a question in Parliament regarding monetary policy — for instance, about inflation or the exchange rate — usually no response is provided. Why is that? It seems to be because there is no representation from the Central Bank in Parliament.”

Responding to this, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said:

“When a Member of Parliament raises a question, it is directly referred to the Minister of Finance. At that stage, the Ministry sometimes contacts us for input. For example, if an answer is due tomorrow, we might receive the question only today. Even so, we take steps to prepare and send the required response to the Minister of Finance. That is the procedure.

I can assure you that we provide timely answers to all questions received by the Central Bank through the Minister of Finance. However, the overall process does not always move as scheduled. Some questions are not limited to the Central Bank; they also involve other institutions such as the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance compiles responses from all relevant institutions into a single report and submits it to the relevant minister.

If we are invited, we have no objection to appearing before Parliament ourselves to provide the answers directly.”