Fresh move to restructure two State Banks? : Ravi K

Colombo, June 5 (Daily Mirror) - Highlighting that there is a fresh move to restructure two State Banks by offering shares to the public, Opposition MP Ravi Karunanayake yesterday urged the Government to come out with the actual position with regard to the two institutions.

“A document which outlines a plan to restructure the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank has been leaked from the Ministry of Finance. It talks of a fresh move aimed at capital formation for the two Banks. It seems that there is a move to offer shares to the public,” one time Minister in charge of Finance MP Karunanayake told a media briefing.

“There was a move to restructure the two Banks during the tenure of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as President. We would like to know as to whether the present Government is planning to go ahead with the same plan. We also urge the Government confirm the authenticity of the document which outlines the plans of the two Banks,” he said.

The MP said he would raise the issue in Parliament in the near future.

The MP who referred to the new 10 percent tariff on Sri Lankan exports to USA said this move by the US government would push the Sri Lankan exports in danger. “USA has imposed this tax on exports from a number of countries accusing them of using child labor. One is anxious to see how the Sri Lankan Government would handle this move,” he said.

Also he took the Department of Census and Statistics to task for its latest computation of the amount an individual needs to survive for a month. “The department has claimed that a person could survive with Rs 16,700 for a month. It has claimed that an average person consumes five types of food. It has not taken into consideration other expenditure such as medical expenditure and money required for recreation. One has to be more diligent when putting out statistics regarding the cost of living,” he said in this regard.