CID or Bribery Comm. should probe into issuance of direct placement prior to 2015 | Daily News

CID or Bribery Comm. should probe into issuance of direct placement prior to 2015

Presidential Commission into Treasury Bond issue:

Former Deputy Governor Dr. W.A. Wijewardena said the CID or the Commission to Investigate on Bribery or Corruption should probe into the issuance of direct placement done prior to 2015 by the Central Bank's Public Debt Department.

He also proposed that a similar probe be done on the Employment Provident Fund as well.

Dr. Wijewardena said all CBSL officers are expected to submit their asset declarations to their Governor, where an investigative body could compare the real assets owned by the officers and what they had officially submitted, in order to ascertain whether there were any discrepancies, Dr. Wijewardena suggested.

He said if the Public Debt Department(PDD) had corrupt officials, the Central Bank should take immediate action against them, Dr. Wijewardena said.

He said, the Front Office officers of the Public Debt Department are allowed to change bond interest rates from five basis points. So there is the possibility of having bad eggs there, Dr. Wijewardena said. He also said there have been instances in the history of the CBSL where such officials were transferred. Dr. Wijewardena was replying to a question directed by Supreme Court Judge P. Jayawardena as to what was the procedure followed by the Public Debt Department when they placed direct placements with Primary Dealers.

Justice Jayawardena also questioned as to whether there had been any formal complaints regarding officials being biased towards certain primary dealers. Dr. Wijewardena replied that there were none. However, he said that rumours circulated in the market regarding such biased action, while the CBSL had probed into and taken necessary action.

Dr. Wijewardena also pointed out that CBSL officials of all ranks, were not even allowed to accept gift hampers from parties who transact with the Central Bank. They were expected to return such hampers to the Welfare Department of the Central Bank, he explained.

He also suggested that the

location of the Front office and the Back office of the PDD should be changed as well. Asked if he agreed to prohibit the usage of mobile phones within the PDD premises, Dr. Wijewardena answered in the affirmative.


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