o CBSL printed Rs. 213 b since early March o No negative impact, says Treasury Secretary By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The total amount of money printed by the Government so far stands at less than 0.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Finance Ministry revealed yesterday (3). Speaking to The Morning, Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Atygalle justified the printing of money to meet financial demands at a time the country was facing its worst-ever economic crisis due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Secretary ruled out any negative impacts to the economy in the future as a result of excessive money printing, claiming that it was not only happening in Sri Lanka but in other countries, including the US, as well. According to statistics, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) printed approximately Rs. 213 billion since the first week of March this year, with the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sri Lanka, with the CBSL’s holdings of government securities, which stood at Rs. 78.01 billion as of 12 March this year, reaching Rs. 291.83 billion as of 24 April. According to CBSL data, since the beginning of this year, it has pumped Rs. 217.1 billion into the market. Elaborating further, Atygalle stressed that the money printed by the Government had been pumped into the local market and as a result, the Government could keep inflation at a low level. On the other hand, since imports have been restricted, the money would not be going out of the country and would instead circulate within the system, he explained. Atygalle said: “I don’t see any negative impact in printing money, as at a time like this, that is the only option any government has. If you look at the US Government, it also applied the same method to stabilise and maintain the financial sector.” CBSL data further revealed that the total outstanding market liquidity was at a surplus of Rs. 96.352 billion by the end of the week, compared to a surplus of Rs. 82.126 billion by the end of last week. During the year up to 30 April 2020, the Sri Lankan rupee depreciated against the US dollar by 5.8%, against the pound sterling by 0.7%, the euro by 2.8%, the Japanese yen by 7.5%, and the Indian rupee by 0.4%.