- CBSL requests more time to make final call
The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF), whilst raising moral concerns regarding the recent salary hike of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) employees, gave the CBSL’s Governing Board some time to look into the matter more deeply, said the COPF Chairperson Dr. Harsha de Silva.
He made these remarks following the meeting between the COPF and CBSL officials to discuss the controversial salary hike of the CBSL. Dr. de Silva also told the media that the CBSL has the legal capacity to make such a move, but that the morality of the decision is questionable. He noted that the CBSL informed the COPF that it needed time to hold discussions further to reach a final decision.
Meanwhile, posting on social media on his official X account, Dr. de Silva said: “The Governing Board claims authority over remuneration for over 25 years, based on the 1950 CBSL Act and the new Act. However, this salary revision does not apply to the Governor or the Governing Board.” He further posted that concerns were raised by MPs about using ‘collective agreements’ between unions to increase salaries when they have not been properly implemented, and said that the CBSL admitted the particular matter and pledged to address it. “The MPs questioned the interpretation of Section 23(2) of the CBSL Act, which states that salaries cannot be based on profits. The CBSL clarified that this means that they must pay staff regardless of profit,” he noted. According to de Silva, the CBSL also stated that their salaries do not come from taxpayer money but from profits, and also that profits are derived from open market operations, investments, and currency production. “A major debate centered on whether CBSL profits are ‘public finance’. The CBSL Governor believes that funds outside the consolidated fund aren’t public finance. MPs worry that this sets a precedent for other independent institutions to raise salaries,” it further reads. He also stated that the Attorney General’s representative had clarified that the new CBSL Act allows them to decide remuneration, although funds from State institutions are classified as public finance.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration Dinesh Gunawardena detailed the recent salary hikes responding to a question raised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya Opposition MP S.M. Marikkar in Parliament yesterday (6). The Premier provided a detailed explanation of the amounts and percentages by which the salaries were increased for each position within the CBSL, emphasising that these facts were made easily accessible to the public.
Recent media reports revealed that the CBSL had increased the salaries of its employees by 70% and the move was heavily criticised by MPs of both the ruling Party and the Opposition, following which the CBSL officials were summoned before the Cabinet of Ministers, the party leaders’ meeting and the COPF.
On 25 February, the CBSL requested the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, for an opportunity to apprise the MPs, through an appropriate Parliamentary Committee, of the recent salary increment which came under fire. The request was made in writing by the CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
Issuing a release in this regard, the CBSL had explained that the latest revision of the remuneration of its employees had been approved by the Governing Board under the triennial collective agreement entered into with the unions covering the 2024–2026 period.