COLOMBO – Former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has alleged that irregularities linked to National Development Bank (NDB) may extend beyond a single institution, potentially involving between five and seven banks and up to nine non-banking financial institutions.
Raising a privilege issue in Parliament, Karunanayake said what he described as a “systematic failure of accountability” by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had enabled the alleged multi-billion-rupee fraud to spread across the wider financial sector.
He accused the central bank and other relevant authorities of engaging in a “serious and continuing obstruction” of his parliamentary duties by failing to respond to multiple questions he had raised over several months.
“Questions remain unanswered, neither at Parliament nor adequately responded at committee proceedings,” Karunanayake told the House last week.
The remarks followed criticism he made last week over the central bank’s supervisory role in the alleged fraud at National Development Bank, where he claimed billions of rupees had left the country without being flagged by regulators.
Karunanayake also questioned the role of the central bank in relation to the bank, noting that the institution manages the Employees’ Provident Fund while also investing in National Development Bank.
-ENCL
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