The Central Bank (CB) has taken umbrage over 'negative' remarks made by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on the forthcoming $1.9 billion standby facility from the IMF.
Mr Miliband has 'raised doubts about whether Colombo could be trusted to use a US$ 1.9 billion loan from the IMF appropriately', the CB said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said for purposes of record during the past 25 years, the IMF has granted nine loans to the Central Bank and the Bank has utilized all such IMF facilities 'very honourably in strict compliance with the terms of disbursement, and repaid such facilities without a single default'.
The CB said, "in fact, Sri Lanka has never delayed or defaulted on any loan, and consequently, has maintained an unblemished record of debt servicing. In that context, Mr Miliband's alleged statement is very unfortunate and disturbing, since it casts a slur on the impeccable debt servicing record of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, as well as Sri Lanka's deep commitment to meeting its obligations.
Media reports also indicate that the British Foreign Secretary has stated that the Government of Sri Lanka should be "able to show that it will use any IMF money in a responsible and appropriate way", and that he "does not think that's yet the case". This comment too, while being unfortunate, displays lack of basic knowledge, since IMF facilities are made available only to monetary authorities/central banks for balance of payment support purposes, and hence the contention that the government would utilize IMF money does not arise, the statement said. |
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