Governor confronted by conundrum over March Central Bank salaries

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said that he agrees with the recommendations given by Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on the recent salary increments given to CB employees.

Dr. Weerasinghe said the CB has no issue with COPF recommendations but there is a slight problem with the COPF recommendation to immediately defer the payment of increased salaries.

“The salaries of CB employees for March have already been processed in the system and they are to be paid on Monday (25). If we are to go back to the earlier one, we will have to revise the system completely. This will take a bit of time. Its too short for us to do this. This is the first issue,” he said.

Dr. Weerasinghe said the second issue is that if the salaries are taken to previous levels, some take home salaries of CB staffers will be in the negative.

“They have taken loans, etc. We have to address this. We have to get their consent on how to address negative take home salaries. What we seek from you, while respecting what you have recommended, is guidance on implementing them,” he said.

Head of the COPF, SJB MP, Dr. Harsha de Silva said the two sides should work to find an amicable solution to the problem.

“I want to put your request to the committee whether to allow CB to go ahead with the March salaries. After March you can hold off payments until we arrive at an acceptable resolution,” he said.

COPF member, SLPP dissident MP Chandima Weerakkody said that the committee is not against CB officials getting a reasonable salary hike.