14 February, 2025

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Chandra Demands For Information On Treasury Bond Issuance

Exercising his ‘Right to Information,’ good governance activist and former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chandra Jayaratne has demanded the Secretary of the Central Bank’s Monetary Board to furnish him within 14 days all information pertaining to the recent Treasury Bond issuance from the Central Bank.

Chandra Jayaratne

Chandra Jayaratne

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka on April 19, Jayaratne said that in recognition of the provisions of Article 14 A of Chapter III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution of the Sri Lanka, dealing with the right of access to information and also in recognition of the Right to Information Bill tabled in the Parliament, he was exercising his fundamental right to receive the information on several matters from the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, being the body responsible for making all policy decisions related to the management, operation and administration of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

“Kindly submit to me in English, within 14 days from the receipt of this letter, information in respect of Government Treasury Bond Issues,” the letter which was also copied to Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and members of the Monetary Board said.

The full text of the letter is below;

19th April 2016. By Registered Post

The Secretary,
Monetary Board of Sri Lanka,
Central Bank of Sri Lanka,
Janadhipathi Mawatha,
Colombo 1.

Dear Sir,

Exercise of Right to Information in Terms of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and Pending Legislation on Right to Information

In recognition of the provisions of Article 14 A of Chapter III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution of the Sri Lanka, dealing with the right of access to information and also in recognition of the Right to Information Bill tabled in the Parliament of Sri Lanka, in which the preamble reads as “WHEREAS the Constitution guarantees the right of access to information in Article 14A thereof and there exists a need to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public authorities by giving effect to the right of access to information and thereby promote a society in which the people of Sri Lanka would be able to more fully participate in public life through combating corruption and promoting accountability and good governance”, I hereby serve due notice on you, that I wish to exercise my fundamental right to receive the information hereinafter set out in this letter from the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, being the body responsible for making all policy decisions related to the management, operation and administration of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in terms of the Monetary Law Act No 58 of 1949 as amended.

Kindly submit to me in English, within 14 days from the receipt of this letter, the following information in respect of Government Treasury Bond Issues;

Being Treasury Bond issues of maturity periods above 4 years, made on or after 1st January 2016 and up to date (ie. Including details of the treasury bond offers of 18th April 2016) and in respect of each such bond offer /issues

  • Settlement Date
  • Issue Date of Series
  • Maturity Date of Series
  • Coupon Rate
  • Loan Title
  • Maturity Period
  • ISIN
  • Series No
  • Auction No
  • Accrued Interest Rate

In respect of each of the issues detailed in 1 above, the under noted details of all bids received ;

  • Sequence No
  • Dealer
  • Amount Tendered
  • Bid Price
  • Amount Payable
  • Yield to maturity
  • Yield Net of Tax
  • Cumulative Amount Tendered
  • Cumulative Amount Payable
  • Weighted Average Price
  • Weighted Average Yield to Maturity
  • WAYRN Indicating accepted bids in full and or part and rejected bids, and
  • Names of the Chairman and Members of the Tender Committee and members of Management of the Central Bank who participated directly or indirectly in the decision making process regards the bids to accepted and rejected and quantity total value up to which bids are to be accepted

3. In respect of each of the issues detailed in 1 above, where the Tender Committee rejected all bids received reasons for rejection of all bids received in a market based auction system

Kindly submit to me in English, within 30 days from the receipt of this letter, the following additional information in respect of Government Treasury Bond Issues;

4. In respect of each of the issues listed in 1 above, where following such issue, the successful dealers to whom corresponding bonds were issued and have since made secondary market transfers of such bonds, transferring the said bond to any of the undernoted State Institutions;

  • Employees Provident Fund
  • Employees Trust Fund
  • National Savings Bank
  • State Mortgage & Investment Bank
  • Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd
  • Bank of Ceylon
  • Peoples Bank

details thereof indicating

  • the relevant date of transfer
  • Face Value of Bonds Transferred
  • Transfer Price

Your earliest response to the above request for information will be greatly appreciated

Yours Sincerely,

Chandra Jayaratne

CC. The Governor Central Bank and Members of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka

Latest comments

  • 6
    2

    Good luck Chandra Jayaratna.

    Within 14 days. Hehe. Fundamental rights in Sri Lanka? Good joke Chandra.

    • 15
      1

      Thank you Chandra, Hats off to you and keep up your good work!

      The corrupt and uneducated insider trader at the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran is on a BORROWING AND SPENDING SPREE without any plan to reduce the national debt and stop the crash of the rupee.

      Sri Lanka will soon be in a Greece like Situation. It is appalling that Dr. Harsha De Silva and Eran Wickramaratne are also keeping their mouths shut on the corruption and stupidity at the Central Bank.

      Arjuna Mehndran should be fired and then investigated, along with his crooked son-in-law Aloysius. Mahendran is an ECONOMIC HIT MAN; a corrupt insider trader, who is using the previous regime’s corruption to mask his own. So too, was NIvard Cabraal – who was MR’s economic hit man. Both Mahendran and Cabraal played the same dirty game to please their CORRUPT political masters and must be held accountable .

      Mahendran is a derivatives and stock dealer and dose NOT have the qualifications to be Central Bank Governor. Neither did Cabraal. Sri Lanka is headed for economic disaster with this fellow at the CB.

      Corruption is the root cause of the current economic crisis, and failure to investigate off shore bank accounts of the political cronies who are plundering the national wealth. It the funds looted by Mahinda Jarapaasa, regime and held in off whore accounts are returned to Lanka, the national debt could be payed off. But this is not being done due to dependence on IMF and World Bank which have legalized corruption and looting of third world by political elites and corrupt global banking financial system. This is clearly evident from the Panama Papers.
      Ranil-Sirisena govt. is morally and intellectually bankrupt, have misidentified the problem and distracted the people of Lanka, and people should protest on the streets and ask for the resignation of Mahendran and Ravi K before Sri Lanka faces a bigger economic DEBACLE.

      • 3
        6

        Cabraal, together with PB was doing a great job!
        If one reads the IMF country reports and rating agency reports, You will understand this, without slinging mud of personnel nature!

        • 6
          6

          You should be an inborn fool.

          Cabral and Jayasundara were the front men who grabed billions away from lanka not allowing them to circulate in the country. That has led to all impossible levels of the crisis.

          What we know right at the moment is much less about alleged BILLIONS, but the days to come for sure, information will surface.

          Why not you guys read – all the debts taken from foreign countries/instituions were not captured while making those percentages. THis was then made clear by Dr. Harsha De Silva (US PHDer) several times in the parliament, please check them in the Hansard if you have a brain the size of a needle head.

          By the end of MR last term, he was so hard up not knowing how to continue the economy.

        • 3
          1

          Even your dog would nodd its head to the truth, but you the like ilk would never do so. There you are no wrong, but your knowledge about ground realities of the lanken economy.

        • 1
          0

          You are correct about Cabarala but the tragedy is new CB GOV Mahendran lost all credibility from the very first bond issue if not for RW’s loyal & unwavering backing Mahendran would have lost his job. It was MR’s regimes proven method to point out dirt in guy next door house to justify his dirty deeds. Alas the supporter’s of new regime using the same excuse.

    • 3
      2

      Good one Mr. J! Stay the course and we will support you..

      The World Bank calls itself the ‘Knowledge Bank’ (ha, Ha Ha) so why does not the Central Bank of Sri Lanka head, Mahendran, who is in Washington for the Spring meetings of the Breton Woods twins ask WB and IMF to help them to go through Panama Papers and other off shore accounts lists and investigate and track down the stolen and looted funds of corrupt Sri Lanka politicians and cronies held in off shore bank accounts?

      WB spends huge amounts on ideologically derived USELESS research to distract us from the real problems and reasons for massive INEQUALITY and Poverty and the corrupt global financial system that it operates with the IMF.

      So we have massive studies of remittances by migrant workers from Asia and Africa who do slave labor the first world and oil rifch Mid East to support families in the global south, but no studies of funds transfers via illegal shell companies and off shore accounts by the WOrld Bank?! WHY?
      WB likes to preach “good governance” and says it does research so why not investigate Panama Papers and other companies that aid operation of secret bank accounts that horde looted money from the third world in the global financial system?

      After all, If the looted funds stolen by the former SL dictator Mahinda Jarapassa and his brothers, sons, cronies, including Nivard Cabraal, are brought back to Sri Lanka the country would be able to pay its massive national debt and stop the crash of the rupee.. and the poor would not have to lay 15 percent VAT.

      But the knowledge produced at World Bank and IMF is really to legalize corruption and the flight of capital and looting of the global south to the global north and institutionalized global and national INEQUALITY and poverty.

      Why do you think 63 individuals today control over half the world’s wealth as reveal by OXFAM at the rich man’s club meet in Davos?!
      CONCLUSION: IMF and world Bank should be SHUT DOWN and the funds they consume given to the ICJ – international consortium of Journalists investigating the Panama Papers.

    • 1
      1

      Good one Mr. J! Stay the course and we will support you..

      The World Bank calls itself the ‘Knowledge Bank’ (ha, Ha Ha) so why does not the Central Bank of Sri Lanka head, Mahendran, who is in Washington for the Spring meetings of the Breton Woods twins to ask WB and IMF to help them to go through Panama Papers and other off shore accounts lists and investigate and track down the stolen and looted funds of corrupt Sri Lanka politicians and cronies held in off shore bank accounts?

      WB spends huge amounts on ideologically derived USELESS research to distract us from the real problems and reasons for massive INEQUALITY and Poverty and the corrupt global financial system that it operates with the IMF.

      So we have massive studies of remittances by migrant workers from Asia and Africa who do slave labor the first world and oil rifch Mid East to support families in the global south, but no studies of funds transfers via illegal shell companies and off shore accounts by the WOrld Bank?! WHY?
      WB likes to preach “good governance” and says it does research so why not investigate Panama Papers and other companies that aid operation of secret bank accounts that horde looted money from the third world in the global financial system?

      After all, If the looted funds stolen by the former SL dictator Mahinda Jarapassa and his brothers, sons, cronies, including Nivard Cabraal, are brought back to Sri Lanka the country would be able to pay its massive national debt and stop the crash of the rupee.. and the poor would not have to lay 15 percent VAT.

      But the knowledge produced at World Bank and IMF is really to legalize corruption and the flight of capital and looting of the global south to the global north and institutionalized global and national INEQUALITY and poverty.

      Why do you think 63 individuals today control over half the world’s wealth as reveal by OXFAM at the rich man’s club meet in Davos?!
      CONCLUSION: IMF and world Bank should be SHUT DOWN and the funds they consume given to the ICJ – international consortium of Journalists investigating the Panama Papers.

    • 1
      0

      The kind of information should be revealed to third parties also respecting the data protection laws – be it in SL or EU countries is the same.
      So I really dont think that this demand is fair since the investigations on the case is being carried out.

      These are just words only, In practical life, in srilanka not even a tiny issue that europeans feel could be finalized wthin an hour can NOT be done peacefully in the country.
      This is common to all the cases being inveistigated. They talk a lot, but mostly they dont have the proper laws and their provisions to finalize anything. In Germany and almost every EU state, they are laws with all respective provisions, describing how to act accordingly..
      All other reasons are as follows:
      Reasons, people s nature.
      Resons, not having proper provisions of the laws
      Reasons, not having the rigorous nature as their counterparts in EU possess.
      Reasons, not having proper tranings

  • 9
    1

    A good move. At least the people in “authority” and handling Public Affairs must now know that they cannot get a way that easily. The proposed “Right To Information” has tried to prevent this type of information getting out. Probably this could enter the Courts as a matter of “Rights” and let us see how the story is going to unfold.

    Thank you Mr. Chandra Jayaratne for making this attempt.

  • 9
    2

    Has the Singaporean turned our Central Bank into the Yahapalna Casino ?

    The tender for the latest Bond Issue was for only LKR 30 Billion.

    But the Singaporean gobbled up everything totaling 90 Billion.

    The extra 60 at 14.6 something percent.

    Bond prices crashed the next day, and guess what..

    The dealers who got the juicy bit totaling 60 Billion were on selling big time, raking in Millions in just a couple of days.

    What is important is not the names of of the Banks which bought them.

    What is important is the money bags who lend the cash to the Banks.

    Can Chandra tell the Yahapalana suckers how much of theses Billions pouring in come from the ex LTTE funds and Financiers, besides the members and associate associates of UNP London?.

    Has Kabeer’s mate and Advisory Chariman channeling any through the Panama Canal?.

  • 14
    1

    Ranil’s dedicated cheering squad can counter this by insulting Jayaratne ! We are between the devil and the gay gang !

  • 2
    10

    Chandra where were you when your Brother in law was on the monetary board in mara’s regime? You have suddenly woken up and found your voice now.

  • 4
    2

    Well done Chandra Jayaratne. You are an angel of Sri Lanka to fight these demon politicians who get elected on false promises. Nail them please. All of them. May you be the thorn in their flesh.

    • 1
      1

      Really ?

      Why you call the same Angel not to have done this before as ultra angel ?

      Most of all, he has to ask former minister of Finance to be interviewed one behind the other going through all the items that are now under scrutiny.

      Dont you think so ?

    • 2
      0

      Truthfully speaking, I believe, Gune, if investigations should be carriet out, MR and other supicious ministers should long have been put in jail – while all the investigations are continued.

      Did any of lanken authorities do that for any issues except Yoshiita s which also ended up with unthinkable bail out story ?

      If world bank and other bodies stand by in terms of the huge gaps ranging to billions -are distinquished, why the lanken law authorities failed yet the arrest of MR ?
      Why they failed to arrest GR and keep in the jail sofar ?

      Why BR was arrested for few weeks ?

      Why why why

  • 2
    6

    I say where was you mouth while your Brother in law plundered the country whilst Nivaard was Governor?
    How come you have got all het up now!?
    Let a man who is capable do a job.

  • 2
    3

    I say where was you mouth while your Brother in law plundered the country whilst Nivaard was Governor?
    How come you have got all het up now!?
    Let a man who is capable do a job.

  • 3
    0

    Thank you Mr Jayaratna for your public service by filing this Right-To-Information request on behalf of the general public of Sri Lanka.

    The first time he got caught with his hand in the till, the PM appointed a three man committee of unknown lawyers and exonerated himself and his bosom pal

    Fool me once, shame on you
    Fool me twice, shame on me

  • 2
    0

    This is a first step towards good governance. Thus far good governance has been a motherhood statement. Well done Mr Jayaratne.

  • 2
    1

    It looks a letter of demand. Perhaps Chandra can send a similar letter to Cabral requesting accounts of funds collected for CHOGAM bid. Large sums were collected from Commercial banks under duress. Understand still there are unpaid bills. Although Cabral promised to publish the accounts people are waiting.

    • 3
      0

      Upali,

      not only Cabral, but also the former minister of Finance.

      not limiting to the issue, there are bunch of allegations levelled at former minister of Finance. All these should be addressed to the very same manner as Chandra makes it clear.

      Why the Journos not yet demand any constructive responses from former Minister of Finance is not compresible to me.

      Either they can t approache the man yet. Or the man prevaricate pleasing them further.

      Most timeworthy thing would be to question Mahinda Rajapakshe adminsitration, MR, PB Jayadundara, Deputy Ministers, Cabral the galibba. Just letting them stay scot free but telling that investigations are underway is like giving TOFEEs to a small child pleasing hiim for the moment only.

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