JVP provincial councillor Wasantha Samarasinghe while testifying before the Presidential Commission on the Central Bank bond issue yesterday said, Perpetual Treasuries (PT) had made a profit of Rs.14,845 million on the sale of bonds from February 27, 2015 to May 26, 2016.
As per computation done by him the Central Bank had incurred a loss of Rs.55,000 million during this period. Samarasinghe said the decision to increase the interest rate to 12.5% before the acceptance of the bids amounting to Rs.10.058 billion bids on February 27 had affected the country’s economy with the State incurring a loss of more than Rs.144,000 million.
On questioned , how he obtained the details to prepare his reports, Mr. Samarasinghe said several primary dealers had provided significant details on this matter.
The Commission of Inquiry said the identity of those primary dealers would be vital to the inquiry and will undertake to record their evidence in camera as such asked him to reveal the names of the primary dealers who gave the details. “Yes, I can identify the primary dealers who provided these details on the assurance of protecting their identity,
Under cross examination by the Defence Counsel Some contradictions came to light regarding yield rates and the interest rates cited in the drafts prepared by the witness raising doubts to the accuracy of the reports.
