Former Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in his recently released publication on the current economic meltdown ‘Amidst Economic Hit Men’ says that if anyone is to blame for the current predicament, it is not only him but the previous administration, previous cabinet, finance minister and the monetary Board of the Central Bank as all the fiscal and economic decisions were taken collectively and not by a single person.
The decision to default debt payment, keep the rupee steady, increase or cut tax and obtaining bilateral and multi-lateral loans and issuance of ISB were taken following the approval of the cabinet, the monetary Board and the finance minister.
None of these decisions have been taken by me single-handedly or arbitrarily. All of them were collective decisions,” he stressed.
Mr. Cabraal says that the announcement that ‘Sri Lanka is “bankrupt” with the temporary suspension of payments of all external debts’ on April 12 was the biggest betrayal of Sri Lanka after independence. President Ranil Wickremesinghe also on several occasions has said ‘Sri Lanka is bankrupt’ as financial crisis was ravaging the country’.
Cabraal says he alone is not responsible for economic crisis
