Is Central Bank enjoying special immunity? Ravi K

Colombo, April 17 (Daily Mirror) - MP Ravi Karunanayake who responded on the statement issued by the Central Bank if Sri Lanka (CBSL) that the NDB is safe despite the Rs 13.2 billion scam, questioned as to whether the former is enjoying special immunity.

MP Karunanayake said the following with regard to the CBSL statement :

"Because we want our Central Bank officials to be the best, they are apparently trained and educated at the best universities and countries. They are apparently paid above market, tax-free salaries, with many perks. They are also bestowed with a great amount of authority over financial institutions and other Govt. Agencies. Which authority our Central Bankers do certainly wear and wield with much zest.

Even law was apparently recently changed (not ideally what it should be), to create better independence for Central Bankers from the politics and Government.

Given all this, then, what is the point in all that, if the Bank Supervision Division of the Central Bank remains unable to simply spot, pre-empt or prevent bank and financial disasters of massive proportion? And if their Non Bank Financial Institutions  Supervision Unit continues to be unable to spot ailing, time bomb type, finance companies, who have suddenly fallen, time and again, leaving the poor public without their life savings?

Who will answer, who will be accountable, what is being done to prevent these kinds of disasters in future?

In the NDB debacle, such massive indications were present under the nose of all these so-called watchdogs, but no one called it.

In any other country, the Governor would be called up and questioned  by Parliament (not just public finance committees) and heads would have had to roll. In any other public institution, they will be called up and held accountable.

Is the Central Bank enjoying special immunity?

So many disasters (Bond scam, bankruptcy of the country and economy itself) but yet the Central Bankers were never properly held accountable or taken to task. In fact, even some of the Deputy Govnors at the time were happily left to serve until retirement.

Some say it is because key elements of the business and political community always protected them.

So, as always, what we see is silence and soft paddling from all quarters. The Govt., the Opposition politicians, the business community and even the public are as usual soft paddling critical issues for their own agenda.

This has been the case or pattern on almost every critical issue that the nation has faced.

Sadly, everyone will have to reap what the majority sows.

Those who keep quiet for their agenda usually reap other benefits that will compensate over and above.

It’s the poor, foolish common man and public that will suffer as always.

As they say, there is nothing bigger for the triumph of evil than for good men to do nothing about it.