Accountability beyond incompetence, moving beyond the Cabraal case

THE recent decision of the High Court to exonerate former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in the Greek Government Bond case has again highlighted the difficulty in holding those responsible for economic crimes to account and the thin lines between corruption and 'executive decisions.'

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Last week's ruling rested on a narrow legal interpretation. The Court was of the view that the investment in Greek Bonds, made when Greece itself was on the brink of economic collapse, constituted an Executive decision that could not be conclusively proven as corruption. Legally, that may be so. Morally and economically, however, the decision represents a profound failure to address the deeper rot that has plagued Sri Lanka's public financial management for years.

When in 2011 Cabraal and three other senior Central Bank officials committed to these investments, warning signs were already flashing red. Greece's debt crisis was no secret. Any prudent monetary authority would have exercised extreme caution. Yet Sri Lanka's Central Bank proceeded otherwise, exposing public funds to unnecessary and foreseeable risk. These decisions, taken by individuals entrusted with safeguarding national economic stability, contributed to a chain of policy failures that eventually dragged the country into the economic abyss witnessed in 2022.