Under-fire Sri Lankan Central Bank (CB) Governor Arjuna Mahendran on Monday went on leave pending the completion of a probe into allegations of insider trading in a Treasury bond issue, officials at the banking regulator said. Opposition parties have slammed the CB over the Treasury bond scandal in which the Bank accepted Rs 10 billion in bids, over the advertised Rs 1 billion at high interest rates. “He has gone on leave pending the completion of the inquiry,” one senior official said. While Mr. Mahendran has said he was not involved in the process which comes under the CB’s Public Debt Department, his son-in-law’s firm active participation in the deal has raised eyebrows. A 3-member committee of lawyers has been appointed to probe the matter. On Monday, the CB said the next Monetary Policy Review would be released on Wednesday, March 18. The Governor is unlikely to take part at the Monetary Board meeting with Senior Deputy Governor P. Samarasiri expected to represent the former. – ENDS -
Former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, arrested on allegation of corruption by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been remanded until July 1 by the Colombo Magistrate court.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Stabilization and NPP National List MP Harshana Suriyapperuma who is tipped to be named the next Finance Ministry Secretary resigned from Parliament today.
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