Govt. will use state funds for repayment unless stolen money recovered

Colombo, July 13 (Daily Mirror) - The government will use its funds to repay US $ 2.5 million to Australia unless the monies lost in the cyber theft are recovered, an official said.

Sri Lanka lost US $ 2.5 million meant for a payment to be made to the Australian government as part of its debt servicing obligations when the cyber criminals breached the computer system of the Finance Ministry.

Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Harshana Sooriyapperuma admitted upon interrogation by MP Dr. Harsha de Silva at the recent meeting of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) as its chairman.

Upon questioning by Dr. de Silva, it was found that the email server used in such multi-billion dollar transactions had remained outdated since 2019.

In 2023, the basic guidelines for the improvement of the system had been issued.

The Finance Ministry Secretary had been in the dark about the existence of such an outdated system for crucial payments.

Meanwhile, a source from the Australian High Commission confirmed that the Ministry of Finance is working on a plan and timeline for making the payment. This will be resolved over the coming few months, according to the High Commission.