News
Economic crisis: Former top officials blame others in affidavits to SC
View(s):A five-member bench of the Supreme Court will resume hearings next week, on a Fundamental Rights petition filed by three academics against 39 respondents for mismanaging the economy.
The respondents include former Finance Ministers–incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa, former Cabinet members, former Finance Secretary S. R. Attygalle, Central Bank former governors Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Prof. W.D. Lakshman, and the Central Bank’s Monetary Board members.
In their limited objections filed against the petition, former Finance Secretary S. R. Attygalle had in his affidavit said the Cabinet had decided not to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Seeking a programme with the IMF is a decision to be taken by the President and the Cabinet Ministers, not by officials,” Mr Cabraal said.
“If the Cabinet had taken a policy decision one year or even two years ago to approach the IMF and informed the country of the Government’s intention to do so, the entire government machinery including the Central Bank and Finance Ministry would have complied with the decision,” Mr Cabraal said in his affidavit filed in Court.
Prof. W. D. Lakshman, another former governor of the Central Bank, confirmed the country’s reserves stood at US$ 7.6 million in December 2019 and he said he had written to then Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on April 6 last year, recommending that the government approach the IMF. He had written to Mr Rajapaksa again on June 30 last year, reiterating the stance.
He also said the then Presidential Secretary P. B. Jayasundera wrote to him on June 21, last year urging the Central Bank not to implement a Monetary Board proposal to impose a 150 percent deposit margin on letters of credit as it ran counter to government policy.
The Monetary Board’s former member Samantha Kumarasinghe said he and other members of the Monetary Board had no special power regarding the management of the economy. He said he was not a controlling figure in the Monetary Board as described by the petitioners but other Monetary Board members, including the members not named as respondents, had overruled him and taken decisions.
The petitioners—Dr. Athulasiri Kumara Samarakoon, Soosaiappu Neavis Morais and Dr. Mahim Mendis—said they were aggrieved by the hardships faced by the country’s citizens from high levels of inflation, non-availability of vital resources, goods, commodities, and other essential items, including fuel, liquid petroleum gas, medicine and food, and the lack of foreign currency.
All these hardships arose consequent to the mismanagement of the economy by several respondents cited in their petition, they argued.
The petition would be taken up before the Supreme Courts’ five judge bench comprising Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Buwaneka Aluwihare, Vijith Malalgoda, L. T. B. Dehideniya and Murdhu Fernando.
Upul Jayasuriya PC with Vishwaka Rodrigo, Sandamal Rajapakse, Laknath Seneviratne, Sampath Wijewardena, Sachira Andrahennadi and Sachintha Rodrigo, instructed by Shanthi Gunawardena Associates, appear for the petitioners.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!