Amnesiac Former CB Governor Ajith Cabraal cries foul

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal made a public statement in Kandy yesterday (June 24), regarding the state of the economy. He stated that when a person obtains a loan they realize that it is difficult to repay when that person loses their job. He added that if they have the job then they can finance the housing loan, what is happening today is that both the jobs and the interest rates have been lost. The Former CBSL Governor remarked that while interest rates have increased by 50%, the value of the rupee continues to depreciate. It seems as if the Former Central Bank Governor has contracted the same ailment as some of our elected officials, forgetting the past. While you may have forgotten what you said and did during your term as Central Bank Governor from the 1^st of July 2006 to the 9^th of January 2015, the people of this country have not forgotten. Don't you bear some of the responsibility for the state of the economy today? Have you forgotten the moment when you thought it would be prudent to invest the savings of the working people of Sri Lanka in the sovereign bonds of Greece, an economy which had been identified by the entire world as being on the brink of collapse in 2011? Let alone the earnings, the failure to recover even the initial investment caused the country to incur a loss of more than 2100 million rupees as a result of this transaction. The people of this country have also not forgotten your intervention in introducing a hedging deal with regard to the procurement of fuel. Wasn't it because of this wrong decision that Sri Lanka paid 110 dollars per barrel of crude oil in 2007 and 2008 at a time when the price of a barrel of oil was about 80 dollars in the global market? Eventually, the banks that signed the agreement with Sri Lanka recovered their money by filing a case against the country at the High Court in London. What benefit did the country receive by loading a chartered flight with cronies to fly to London in 2013, in order to secure the hosting rights for the 2018 Commonwealth Games for Hambantota? There is also no reason why anyone should have forgotten the artificial pumping and dumping of shares in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Wasn't it during your term as Governor of the Central Bank that the Employees Provident Fund incurred massive losses by investing in pumped and dumped shares so that a select few could earn massive profits? There are countless occasions which can be highlighted including the Hyatt Hotel project and the Malaysian fund, where the savings of the working people of Sri Lanka, the EPF, were invested with absolute disregard for the losses that would be incurred. There is no mystery surrounding the fact that about 500 million rupees of the employee's funds of the Central Bank and Ceylon Electricity Board, disappeared during your term as Governor of the Central Bank. Former Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, these are but a few instances which must not be forgotten. When the new government was elected in 2015, a case was filed in court over the conduct of Ajith Nivard Cabraal. Attorney-at-Law Kelum Darshana Kumarasinghe filed this case over the irregularities surrounding the Greek Bonds and produced a comprehensive report to the court as well. When the case was being taken up at the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court, Provincial Councilor Renuka Perera who was a well-known associate of Cabraal filed a case in court against then Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran over the Central Bank Treasury Bond Scam. Notice was issued on Arjuna Mahendran over the Bond Scam, however, at a time when discussions took place in court on issuing notice on Cabraal and Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the case filed against Cabraal, both parties withdrew their cases. The cases were withdrawn on the 27^th of August, days ahead of the General Elections. The timing of there decisions seems very very peculiar. Perpetual Treasuries Limited - the primary dealer involved in the Treasury Bond Scam was given permission to operate as a Primary Dealer in 2013 when Ajith Nivard Cabraal was the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. At that time, his Sister Shiromi Wickremesinghe was a Director in the Perpetual Group. PTL was given permission to operate as a Primary Dealer at a time its holding company Perpetual Capital Holdings did not even meet the minimum requirement expected from a Primary Dealers. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, you might assume the people of this country are unaware of these incidents. What we can say to you is, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!