Treasury Secretary clarifies role of Treasury and the CB in public debt 

The public debt management function is entrusted to the Central Bank (CB) and its Public Debt Department (PDD) acts as the agent of the Government in handling domestic debt, while several other government institutions deal with activities related to foreign debt.
 
Debt management should be carried out in such a way as to minimise the direct and indirect cost of public debt on a long-term perspective and avoid volatility in debt service cost and guarantee a balanced distribution as well as prevent an excessive concentration on redemptions.

This was stated by Finance Ministry and Treasury Secretary Dr. R. H. S. Samaratunga when he gave evidence before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into the Issuance of Treasury Bonds in Colombo on Thursday. 

Testifying before the commission, he noted that the Treasury’s responsibility is to manage government revenue, expenditure and public debt and the Debt Department of the CB should service government debt on time with 100 per cent accuracy.

President’s Counsel, Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda lead the evidence. Dr. Samaratunga told the Commission that the gross borrowing requirement in 2015 in the interim budget was fixed at Rs. 1780 billion and in the Budget 2015 presented in January it was revised to Rs. 1699 billion. 

In 2015 the government had planned to borrow Rs. 251 billion from foreign sources and Rs. 248 billion  from local sources, he confirmed when documents were produced to the commission as marked items. (Bandula)