By Ravi Ladduwahetty
Ceylon Finance Today: Central Bank Governor, Arjuna Mahendran said yesterday that the reason for the Rs 15 Billion Bond issue was to settle overdue payments to local and foreign road contractors.
Explaining the events that led to the decisions for the bond issue to the Ceylon FT, Governor Mahendran said: " A meeting was held on 26 February at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with the participation of Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake; Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Kabir Hashim; Secretary to the Treasury, Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga; Secretary to the Ministry of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, Prof. K.M. Liyanage; officials of the Ministry of Highways, and myself to discuss the way forward on the road sector projects.
"The officials of the Ministry of Highways highlighted the need for making overdue payments for road sector projects, which are foreign and locally funded. The immediate funding requirement was around
Rs 15 billion. A team of officials of the Ministry of Highways and Investment Promotion, the Treasury and the CBSL were instructed to analyze the fund requirements to make pending payments for these projects," he said.
Subsequently, Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake called a meeting on 3 March 2015 with the key contractors of the road sector projects to negotiate on overdue payments. The officials of the Ministry of Highways, the Treasury and the CBSL, also participated at this meeting. The Minister had one-to-one discussions with the contractors and negotiated with them, with a view to reduce the due payments for the continuation of these projects. Most contractors agreed with Minister Karunanayake for a 10 to 20% reduction on their outstanding bills and he agreed to settle these within a couple of weeks, the Governor said.
www.ceylontoday.lk
Ceylon Finance Today: Central Bank Governor, Arjuna Mahendran said yesterday that the reason for the Rs 15 Billion Bond issue was to settle overdue payments to local and foreign road contractors.
Explaining the events that led to the decisions for the bond issue to the Ceylon FT, Governor Mahendran said: " A meeting was held on 26 February at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with the participation of Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake; Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Kabir Hashim; Secretary to the Treasury, Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga; Secretary to the Ministry of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, Prof. K.M. Liyanage; officials of the Ministry of Highways, and myself to discuss the way forward on the road sector projects.
"The officials of the Ministry of Highways highlighted the need for making overdue payments for road sector projects, which are foreign and locally funded. The immediate funding requirement was around
Rs 15 billion. A team of officials of the Ministry of Highways and Investment Promotion, the Treasury and the CBSL were instructed to analyze the fund requirements to make pending payments for these projects," he said.
Subsequently, Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake called a meeting on 3 March 2015 with the key contractors of the road sector projects to negotiate on overdue payments. The officials of the Ministry of Highways, the Treasury and the CBSL, also participated at this meeting. The Minister had one-to-one discussions with the contractors and negotiated with them, with a view to reduce the due payments for the continuation of these projects. Most contractors agreed with Minister Karunanayake for a 10 to 20% reduction on their outstanding bills and he agreed to settle these within a couple of weeks, the Governor said.
www.ceylontoday.lk
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