Kiriella decries salary hikes at CB: Govt. says it has no control over CB decision

By Saman Indrajith

Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament yesterday that the Central Bank officials had increased their salaries by outrageous proportions and demanded to know what action the government would take to stop this.

“The Central Bank is also responsible for the economic crisis. While they were asking the rest of us to tighten our belts and to prune down the staff members to the bare minimum, they got together to increase their salaries. A Deputy Governor’s salary has been increased by Rs 712,000. A peon’s salary has been increased by Rs 75,000. The salary increase is reported to have been 70 percent. How could they justify this?” Kiriella queried.

Kiriella asked the government to stop this immediately.

The independence of the Central Bank does not mean bypassing parliament. The Central Bank could calculate their salaries but they need parliament’s approval for this, Kiriella said.

State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that the Finance Ministry had no control over the salary increase of Central Bank employees.

As per their service contracts, the Central Bank employees are entitled to a salary increase every third year. It was the Governing Board of the Central Bank that decides the salaries of the Central Bank employees, the Minister said, adding that it would be prudent if government workers could serve for a minimum wage considering the prevailing situation.

“However, employees of Central Banks world over have higher salaries. It is because the Central Bank retains the services of financial experts and senior economists. Some of their jobs do not have replacements. As such those positions are entitled to special treatment. The salaries of Central Bank employees are not paid by the Consolidated fund but from the Bank’s account, the Minister said.