Ravi denies being in charge of Central Bank during bond scam

Former Finance Minister and NDF MP Ravi Karunanayake yesterday told Parliament that the Central Bank had not been under his purview when the bond scams took place.

- BY SAMAN INDRAJITH

"At no point during my tenure as the Minister of Finance I was assigned the Central Bank. This is the first time I am publicly mentioning this," Karunanayake said.

He said so making a special statement under the provisions of the Section 27/8 Standing Order of Parliament.

The Standing order provides for a personal explanation that could be made by an MP for the purpose of vindicating the personal conduct of that MP in response to a reference which has been made by another MP in the House while he was not present in the House.

Karunanayake said that he was making the special statement with the intention of rectifying a statement made by Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, on 26 November, to the House, where she was answering a question pertaining to the Bond Scam. The Central Bank was under then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the State and Private Banks were under the then Minister Kabir Hashim.

The Central Bank had always been under the Minister of Finance, except during the time that I held the office of Finance Minister," Karunanayake said.

He said that incumbent Prime Minister Dr Amarasuriya's statement on Nov 26 to the House implied that he was responsible for the Bond Scam.

"That implication is a violation of my rights. It is misleading and damaging my rights. I make this statement not against PM Amarasuriya personally but to rectify the error and to set the record straight," Karunanayake said.