Statement by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) relating to the Recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry to Investigate, Inquire and Report on the Issuance of Treasury Bonds (COI) during the period from 1st February 2015 to 31st March 2016 and measures taken to improve the management and control of the Public Debt and the Employees’ Provident Fund.

On 10, January 2018 the Secretary to the President, handed over a copy of the report of the Commission of Inquiry to Investigate, Inquire and Report on the Issuance of Treasury Bonds (COI) during the period from 1st February 2015 to 31st March 2016 to Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka entrusting the task of considering giving effect to the recommendations contained in the Report.

The year 2017 was challenging. We have seen economy-wide effects due to inclement weather conditions. The drought and floods disturbed agriculture activities and agro based industrial activities. Spillover effects of these adverse weather conditions impacted the other sectors of the economy as well. As a result, economic growth is expected to be subdued and lower than we projected at the beginning of the year. The tight monetary policy stance of the Central Bank as well as the relatively tight fiscal policy stance of the government, which were adopted with the aim of regaining macroeconomic stability, partly affected public and private investment spending that also contributed to low economic growth. Consumer price inflation increased, mainly due to high food prices associated with weather related domestic supply disruptions, revisions to indirect taxes and increased prices of imported commodities, making our efforts to anchor inflation expectations challenging.