(Lanka-e-News -30.Sep.2015, 11.00PM) There is going to be an issue pertaining to whose signature should appear on the currency notes of Sri Lanka in the future . Is the signature of the finance minister or the P.M. that should officially appear on the printed currency notes ? Those who are showing concern in this connection have questioned. Another group is of the view that the signature of either is invalid.
This is a consequence of the central bank of SL which was under the finance ministry being brought under the purview of the prime minister via the new gazette notification. In any country the currencies (coins and notes) are turned out controlled by the country’s main bank which is in charge of it . In Sri Lanka it is the Central bank which is in charge.
In all other countries in the world , the main (Central) bank is under the finance minister or governor finance or the financial secretary or another under various names. At any rate , they are all subordinate to the individual in charge of finance who is responsible to the parliament alias government. Accordingly ,those who are signatories to the currency notes are , the chief of the main Central bank and the individual who is responsible to the government regarding finance.Only in special places , one signature would suffice.
Hitherto , when the Central bank printed currency notes , since it was under the finance minster , the signatures on the notes were of the Central Bank governor (chief) and finance minister . But now , as the Central bank is under the prime minister there is an issue.
Hence the issue revolves around the other signature . The individual who is reponsible to the parliament in regard to finance is the finance minister. But can the finance minister be signatory to the currency notes which are produced by an Institution he is not in charge of ? If he is , is that note valid? Though the Central bank is under the P.M. , it is another individual who is answerable to parliament with regard to the country’s finances. In such circumstances , can the P.M. be signatory to the notes? On the other hand if he is , is it valid?
It is the view of many , the government of good governance guided and governed by the aim to stamp out corruption has created more issues by trying to divest ministries of essential Institutions belonging to them .
It is the duty of the government to clear the doubts which have proliferated thereby among the people.
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by (2015-09-30 06:10:38)
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In most of the western world, it is the Bank Governor's signature appears on any bill. But in SriLanka the Bank governor is a political appointee. Generally the Bank Governor should be independent of politics and has to be an economist
-- by Tony on 2015-10-01
