Sri Lanka Central Bank clarifies reports on expenses incurred by Governor

June 06, 2016 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Central Bank has clarified media reports about expenses incurred by the Governor. "It has been reported in the media that allegations had been made by members of the Parliamentary opposition that the Governor of the Central Bank has misused public funds.

" "The CBSL wishes to state that neither the Governor nor any officer of the CBSL has used public money for personal expenses, or misused public funds in any manner whatsoever." In the recent past, the CBSL Governor and staff participated in numerous annual and bilateral meetings organized by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) and the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), the statement added. In addition, the Governor accompanied the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on a number of official visits abroad.

"The accounts of these expenses are audited by the Internal Audit Department of the CBSL and the Auditor General of the country," the statement added "No audit report has been received which mentions instances that the expenses for official visits of the Governor and CBSL staff were in contravention of the stipulated rules or regulations, or that such expenses were misused." Travel expenses for CBSL reduced to Rs 96.6 mn in 2015 compared with Rs 133.

8 mn in 2014. This brought about a saving of Rs 37.2 mn, the statement added.