The government is preparing to pay a pension to former CBSL Governor Arjun Mahendran against whom a warrant has been issued for CBSL treasury bonds scam during former government, SJB MP S.M Marikkar today (6) alleged in Parliament.
Speaking in Parliament, Marikkar claimed that State Minister and former CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has pushed to pay pensions to former CBSL Governors which amount 15 times more than the President’s pension.
Meanwhile, the Monetary Board (MB) has approved pensions with arrears for several former and the incumbent Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka irrespective of the lengths of their tenures, the Sunday Times reported.
Accordingly, the CBSL Secretariat Department is implementing the decision and working out the arrears payments, authoritative sources said. Under the new scheme, all Governors will be eligible for pensions regardless of their service periods, despite other public sector employees requiring at least 10 years of service to qualify. The only exception is Members of Parliament who receive a pension after five years.
The MB’s decision follows requests from Ajith Nivard Cabraal, State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms. He was CBSL Governor from July 2006 to January 2015. He lodged this appeal also during the last administration but the then Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, sent it to President Maithripala Sirisena, the appointing authority. It received no response, the Sunday Times said.
Facts:
— Ajith Nivard Cabraal (@an_cabraal) September 5, 2021
(1)Served as Governor from 1.7.06 to 8.1.15, >8 yrs: (2)Appointment letter provided for "pension": (3)No #pension paid even after 4 yrs of resigning:(4)Informed Gov C'swamy on 12.2.19:(5)Never "pushed" for pensions for other CB Govs. #SriLanka #FakeNews #facts pic.twitter.com/m7XcEPwFn1