Free flow of information vital for financial markets: CB Governor

Sept 28, 2015 (LBO) - A free flow of information is vital for financial markets to grow, Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran told media on Monday. He was responding to a question posed by Lanka Business Online about concerns of market participants that they should censor information when dealing with the media. Some bank dealers had also said the central bank may be listening into conversations over official dealing room lines. "I can say categorically that we don't tap any phones," Mahendran said. "What we have been trying to achieve in the last six months is bringing a greater degree of market related activity in the financial markets," he said.

"When we had an extended debate in the media about bond markets and how bonds were being traded and polarization about direct placements versus auctions, I suppose that degree of polarization was something market participants may have got worried about," he said.

"It was politicized, which led to a huge amount of acrimony on the political front," he added. He said the media had a major role to play in helping grow financial markets, and the financial press should engage in more discussions, especially in the vernacular Sinhalese and Tamil language press. This is something the central bank would like to encourage, he added.