Government has printed Rs 119 billion
At a time when the Minister of Finance, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank is not holding posts, the country had printed 119.08 billion rupees the day before yesterday (06).
Former Governor Keerthi Tennakoon said that at a time when there is no Finance Minister, Finance Ministry Secretary and all state finance officials, the government is continuing to print money.
He pointed out that on April 06th alone the Central Bank had printed Rs. 119.08 billion.
After the appointment of Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Governor of the Central Bank with Cabinet powers, the amount printed was Rs. 443.47 billion.
Since the current government came to power on January 1, 2020, Rs. 1,774.77 billion has been printed.The former governor points out that the country has received a limited supply of fuel and medicine for four weeks under a loan from the Indian government, but if preliminary agreements with the International Monetary Fund are not reached within the next week, the country will inevitably run out of fuel or electricity.
The government has so far failed to take any positive steps to defuse the current political turmoil. The opposition is also making no attempt to seize state power or appoint an alternative or caretaker government. If the opposition does not table a no-confidence motion or impeachment motion against the government, parliament will not convene again for 11 days.Printing money in order to pay salaries will not solve the current shortage of food, electricity and gas. Former Governor Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon stated that in order to resolve the economic crisis, a formal government should be established in the country and political stability should be established first. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights in Sri Lanka.