COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s government continues to defend its domestic debt optimisation (DDO) programme against opposition criticism, noting that the banking system remains intact and assuring superannuation fund holders that their savings are safe.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told reporters on Wednesday July 05 that unlike with Sri Lanka’s foreign debt holders, domestic holders of government securities have not been asked to go for a haircut.
“There is no talk of a cut. It’s just a maturity extension,” Siyambalapitiya said.
The state minister said the island nation is looking to restructure 17 billion of its total external debt. Sri Lanka’s total debt is estimated to be around 83.6 billion dollars, the domestic component of which is about 42.
Out of this 42 billion dollars, Siyambalapitiya said, nine billion will be restructured.
“There are 57.2 million bank accounts. Many were worried that their bank balance would be affected,” he said, adding that the DDO program has protected the banking system.
Opposition MPs and other critics, however, have claimed that the burden of the DDO has been placed unfairly on superannuation funds such as the employees’ provident fund (EPF) and employees’ trust fund (ETF) without the consent of their respective membership.
State Minister Siyambalapitiya claimed that the account balances of EPF and ETF holders will not be affected by the DDO, nor will the interest paid to individual members on their savings.
Opposition MPs have raised concerns about a historical lack of consent in the state-controlled superannuation funds’ investments over the decades.
In a recent parliamentary debate on the DDO, legislators questioned the net present value (NPV) hit on the EPF from the restructuring program given the lack of disclosure on its investments by its management.
Opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M A Sumanthiran said in parliament that the EPF did not disclose the purchase price, face value and market price of each investment, which was required under its law. – EconomyNext
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