The special report prepared by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka regarding the misappropriation of US$2.5 million from the Treasury intended for public debt payments was recently reviewed in detail by the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) of Parliament.
The meeting, chaired by Dr. Harsha de Silva, examined the circumstances surrounding the incident based on reports submitted by both the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development had previously submitted a report to the Committee on the misappropriation. Following a further review by officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Bank submitted a separate report containing its findings and recommendations for the Committee’s consideration.
The discussion was attended by the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, representatives of the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), and a group of senior officials.
Following the presentation of the findings and a comparison of the two reports, the Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance stated that the Committee would prepare a final report based on the submissions made by the relevant parties.
He further noted that presenting this final report to Parliament would be important in establishing how the misappropriation occurred and identifying those responsible.
