Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy has been appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank

[sashimaalTop contributor]

Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy has been appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank by the President- adaderana.lk

[HAL9000Top contributor]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrajit_Coomaraswamy

This an acceptable move I guess.

[harieshaTop contributor]

I think we will see a positive week from Monday. As requested by civil organizations a non political figure has been appointed and hope investors will react positively.

Appointment is seem not as interim and a boost to improve investor confidence.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Wow.
(Good move and Back will be over the MOON).

[WWDNF]

According to Ada Derana, he was working as an advisor to the Galleon Group (of Raj Rajaratnam). This is not very good news given that Ravi K. also had very close connections with that terrorist funder (remember the US$ transfer matter). Wonder how this appointment will turn out for the Sri Lankan economy given the kind of influence Ravi K will have on the new appointee.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

According to Ada Derana, he was working as an advisor to the Galleon Group (of Raj Rajaratnam).  This is not very good news given that Ravi K. also had very close connections with that terrorist funder (remember the US$ transfer matter).  Wonder how this appointment will turn out for the Sri Lankan economy given the kind of influence Ravi K will have on the new appointee.

Thanks for the update. This looks a cocern. But I guess this one is the best among the 6 or 7 suggestions. These days it may be very difficult  to find a 100 % clean and unbiased  person. For example  previously PBJ was ruled guilty by the court for the chargers and lost his job, later he was appointed as Secretary  to finance ministry by MR and did a reasonably  good job despite criticisms. On the other hand Cabral was a crook before appointed  as governor  with involvement with Goldquest Pyramidal scam and remained as a crooked governor with connection to various shady deals in the CSE and  elsewhere .
I think this one is far far better than a person like Charitha Ratwatte.
Regarding terrorist funding , there are plenty of politicians, businessmen who funded the terrorist group directly or indirectly  and sometimes  willingly or unwillingly, at times to save their lives, relatives lives and their businesses  and other propaganda and agendas. Specially during 2002-2005 peace process, some portions of funds distributed for people of war affected areas by NGOs directly and indirectly went to LTTE hands. Interestingly Some people who funded terrorism still lives with a "Deshapremi" name tag!

[sashimaalTop contributor]

Few days back Dr Coomaraswamy was asked to take the position and he has said no. In discussions later , PM had wanted Charitha Ratwatte to be appointed and President wanted Nandalal Weerasinghe instead. Neither agreed on other party's option.

Till late night yesterday no decision had been made by Dr Coomaraswamy and PM has contacted him late night. Only early morning today after a meeting with the Leaders Dr Coomaraswamy has been persuaded to take the position as he is the option both President and PM both agreed.

[xmartTop contributor]

well, this looks like an assuring news. thanks shashi.

[traderone]

Good news. Especially since he is an old Royalist.

[LeonTop contributor]

According to Ada Derana, he was working as an advisor to the Galleon Group (of Raj Rajaratnam).  This is not very good news given that Ravi K. also had very close connections with that terrorist funder (remember the US$ transfer matter).  Wonder how this appointment will turn out for the Sri Lankan economy given the kind of influence Ravi K will have on the new appointee.

Thanks for the update. This looks a cocern. But I guess this one is the best among the 6 or 7 suggestions. These days it may be very difficult  to find a 100 % clean and unbiased  person. For example  previously PBJ was ruled guilty by the court for the chargers and lost his job, later he was appointed as Secretary  to finance ministry by MR and did a reasonably  good job despite criticisms. On the other hand Cabral was a crook before appointed  as governor  with involvement with Goldquest Pyramidal scam and remained as a crooked governor with connection to various shady deals in the CSE and  elsewhere .
I think this one is far far better than a person like Charitha Ratwatte.
Regarding terrorist funding , there are plenty of politicians, businessmen who funded the terrorist group directly or indirectly  and sometimes  willingly or unwillingly, at times to save their lives, relatives lives and their businesses  and other propaganda and agendas. Specially during 2002-2005 peace process, some portions of  funds distributed for people of war affected areas by NGOs directly and indirectly went to LTTE hands.  Interestingly Some people who funded terrorism still lives with a "Deshapremi" name tag!

I feel "Deshapremi" name tag is better than "Ya- ha - palana" name tag.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

[HAL9000Top contributor]

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

http://www.lankanewsweb.today/archives/11706
Yes, It's already in action. I think many of us know who runs this news web.

[LeonTop contributor]

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

Kith,

See the sad part.
Highly qualified gentleman who was appointed by the Mr.Clean has done the same which was done by third class Accountant. Interestingly in day light under the Yahapalana flag.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Agreed.

(Now we all got together and shown this so-called Gentleman the Door. Sadly this was not the case before. Previously all we nodding their heads in unison like Bokasa's Cabinet).

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

Kith,

See the sad part.
Highly qualified gentleman who was appointed by the Mr.Clean has done the same  which was done by third class Accountant. Interestingly in day light under the Yahapalana flag.  

[harieshaTop contributor]

Good news. Especially since he is an old Royalist.

Yes. Yes. Only Royalists can perform up to the expectations. Only a Royalist can fill the vacuum created by another Royalist.

Cheers!

[harieshaTop contributor]

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

They have hired a full time gang to post comments in local newspapers and gossip sits. Have they targeted this forum also?

[harieshaTop contributor]

Bellow is what he said during the panel discussion on RKs first budget (100 day program). We can get some understanding his line of thinking from it.

Macro landscape in the short term
Commonwealth Secretariat Economic Division former Director Dr.Indrajit Coomaraswamy divided his remarks into two perspectives; first on sketching out the landscape within which this Budget was formulated and elaborated on short-term and medium-term perspective of the Budget. “In terms of the macro landscape in the short term, it was Lee Kuan Yew who said that in developing countries elections are an auction of a non-existent resources. It’s not just in Sri Lanka, but in every country with competitive politics, it’s not unusual for elections to be expansionary fiscal policy and budgetary give away. However, it is fair to ask the question whether this Interim Budget; two concerns. Is there a rational for relief measures? Have these measures been accommodated in a way that will not undermine macroeconomic stability? “We had Dr. Harsha de Silva in his remarks say that household income grew only at 0.5% per annum. So we have a situation clearly where a significant segment of the total population (as the average is 0.5%) who experience a decline in their real income. So there was clearly a strong political compulsion to address that issue. Put into the context that Sri Lanka is increasingly an aspirational society, people are very impatient in terms of their material advancements. Now in such a context, we also need to remember that we have been a society where there have been significant problems on the basis of ethnicity, religion, social classes and so forth which we can’t shy away from. Hence, if we don’t address the situation now where real incomes are going up very slowly or declining, then you create an environment where extremist elements can rise due to frustration. “One can argue that there was a strong political compulsion to support the relief measures that were introduced in the Budget. One could also argue that there was a fairly sound economic rationale as well in the short term, because in recent years it’s been domestic demand that has been driving the growth process of this economy, but that’s not the right model we should have. With a country of 21 million people and a market of that size, it shouldn’t be domestic demand, but that’s where we are or where we were. So in the short front one can argue that given in the domestic demand driving the economic growth that you can buy some time to make the transition to the export expansion model, by boosting domestic demand to really protect the growth momentum in the economy. Somebody in the panel said that ‘this was quantitative easing for the consumer’, that’s a very nice way of putting it. You boost the consumer or the demand and you’re buying time to do the structural changes that are necessary to get into an export-driven growth model. There are economic, political and social reasons that one can argue for supporting this relief market.     Macroeconomic stability and revenue “The second question is, what about macroeconomic stability? Highest pumping of this demand through these relief measures, has it undermined macroeconomic stability? And here I think it’s commendable that measures has been taken to fund these measures and if you look at the overall budget deficit, there’s actually been a small improvement. It has come down from 4.6% of GDP to 4.4% of GDP in November, which means the deficit have been contained; you’re not having incremental excess demand being pumped into the system. So, one can argue that the macroeconomic impact is actually in better shape, but I would like to raise two issues. “Having commended the Government for funding the measures, whether the financing was done in the optimal possible way? There’s one school of thought which would say less distortionary to increase overall rates and go down that road. Another would say discreet measures which target those who are able to pay. This is the debate you can have and as we go along, we will see if we have done it the best way. “The second point is revenue. Historically in recent years we have had great difficulty in meeting our revenue targets. Now I did say that the impact of the measures are designed to be neutral as the proposals are presented the deficit will actually come down slightly, but of course if we don’t meet the revenue targets and the budget deficit increases, then clearly you’re going to have an additional demand pumped into the system and that can have implications for prices, that’s inflation and the balance of payments. So, it’s important that the revenue targets are met. Another point is that, even if the revenue targets are met; one needs to be aware that by shifting essentially resources from a relatively wealthy segment of the economy to one that’s less well-off, you will have an impact on savings, on investments, on consumption and so forth because the saving and consumption patterns are different parts of the economy and that can have an impact on prices and import intensity of expenditure within the economy. “The point I’m trying to make is that, it’s important that the authorities monitor the situation very carefully, and if they see any overheating, that they move very quickly and decisively and to use all the tools that are disposal. The Central Bank monetary and exchange rate policy, fiscal policy is less flexible, but that can also be used to contain any excess demand that emerges in the system. I think we need to learn a lesson in what happened in 2011-2012, when we were a little late in responding to the overheating of the economy which meant that there was a fairly severe stabilisation package that had to be brought and that held back the economy quite a lot. Also, some of the trends that Dr. Harsha de Silva alluded to in terms of the households was in my view really a fallout from that stabilisation package. The message is, one has to monitor what’s happening; if there’s overheating move quickly and use all the instruments to and at once dispose. That’s really the landscape and the short term.”     Structural problems In the medium term he highlighted three points; structural problems in relation to revenue, fiscal sustainability, and moving towards more efficient social safety nets. “On the revenue side, as I said before, we had problems; that’s where really we have fallen short in our targets and expectations over the years. The Governor has spoken about streamlining the tax system and certainly that’s something needs to be done. I would like to suggest the report of the Tax Reform Commission is already there on the table and some things have been done, but I haven’t seen it. I should really commend the authority, the Minister and his team for increased transparency. The Tax Reform Commission report, I think one needs to look at it. One needs to continue to strengthen tax administration. “Another option which ideologically was off the table, but I hope which won’t be for new dispensation, is the annual listing of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Really that is a way you can increase revenue and you can improve corporate governance. There are examples, the State Bank of India was a highly-bloated, inefficient organisation; they listed 10% of their capital and it was transformative. One thing I need to say also, which actually the authorities have their eye on, is that the Interim Budget has put in place a stream of recurrent expenditure, but a lot of the measures are one-off things. There’s a structural challenge the Minister and his team would need to address in the medium term as you go forward.     Strengthening the growth framework “Secondly, on strengthening the growth framework, there are lots of things. If you look at each of the factor markets, SOEs, SMEs, there’s a whole list of stuff, but you need to just focus on one thing and if you look at the post-conflict years, in my view the most disappointing aspect was investment performance. The fact that private investment has been on 23% of GDP, the fact that our Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) just been $ 1 billion; that’s really very disappointing. “One way of getting fiscal sustainability and strengthening revenue is to strengthen the growth framework of the economy, get the economy growing faster and automatically your fiscal situation will go. Look at the US economy, they had a massive debt, as the US economy has started to grow faster all the debt, the deficits, are coming down sharply and given the rounder fragile debt dynamics. It’s clearly important that we think in terms of medium term fiscal sustainability and getting the economy going and creating greater investment opportunities. There the most important thing in many ways with which we have had a challenge in past is really the consistency and stability of policy. Minister, I hope will be very much the hallmark of this dispensation’s efforts to strengthen the country’s growth framework. “Thirdly, on the social safety net, two points; one is I think the literature now suggests that messing around with administered prices and subsides and so forth is the second best solution and the better way to have those needed is to have a well-designed program of income transfers. Clearly this is the medium to long term initiative and this is something the Minister and his team may want to think about. “Finally, this is something for all Sri Lankans; I’m not sure we can continue with the entitlement culture that we are in. We need to really transform from that to a far more productivity-focused, entrepreneurial culture. We need to tighten our belts and get our acts together and that means we need a cultural shift which is much more focused on productivity and I hope the Finance Minister and his team will give us leadership.” - See more at:

http://www.ft.lk/2015/02/05/govt-spells-out-interim-budget-for-biz/#sthash.A1tV3iC2.dpuf

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Not yet, being the Weekend.  

There is a big mud factory working 24 x 7, sponsored by the looted money.

(Soon we will hear so many negatives from those who were so dumb silent when a third rate accountant with very dubious records was appointed as the governor by the previous regime).

They have hired a full time gang to post comments in local newspapers and gossip sits.
Have they targeted this forum also?

[HAL9000Top contributor]

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/top_story/433142

[Future123Active Member]

Dr. Indrajith is a Non Executive Director at JKH.

This is a good news for JKH. I don't think he can continue with JKH but JKH would get some support through CB when making strategic decisions.

[harieshaTop contributor]

They are endorsing this appointment.


‘නව මහ බැංකු අධිපති පිළිගන්නවා‘ - දිනේෂ්


මහ බැංකුවේ නව අධිපති ලෙස නම් කැරුණු ආචාර්ය ඉන්ද්‍රජිත් කුමාරස්වාමිගේ පත්වීම පිළි ගන්නා බව ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම් නායක දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා කියයි.

ඔහු මහ බැංකුවේ විශ්වාසය වැඩි කිරීම පිණිස කටයුතු කරනු ඇතැයි බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව ද ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසයි.

මීට පෙර පොලිස්පති සහ නීතිපති ඇතුළු තනතුරු පත් කරද්දී පොදු විපක්ෂය විරුද්ධ විය.

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/top_story/433142

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Voluntary endorsement came forth is another thorn out of the way only and we should not care a Hoot about comments coming from such nut cases.  

They are endorsing this appointment.
‘නව මහ බැංකු අධිපති පිළිගන්නවා‘ - දිනේෂ්
මහ බැංකුවේ නව අධිපති ලෙස නම් කැරුණු ආචාර්ය ඉන්ද්‍රජිත් කුමාරස්වාමිගේ පත්වීම පිළි ගන්නා බව ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම් නායක දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා කියයි.
ඔහු මහ බැංකුවේ විශ්වාසය වැඩි කිරීම පිණිස කටයුතු කරනු ඇතැයි බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව ද ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසයි.
මීට පෙර පොලිස්පති සහ නීතිපති ඇතුළු තනතුරු පත් කරද්දී පොදු විපක්ෂය විරුද්ධ විය.
http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/top_story/433142

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Dr. Indrajith is a Non Executive Director at JKH.

This is a good news for JKH. I don't think he can continue with JKH but JKH would get some support through CB when making strategic decisions.

By saying that you invite Dr. Indrajith to do the same frauds done by Kabral and Mahendran. Is it ok to do so if your portfolio goes up ?

[Future123Active Member]

I didn't mean in that way. As he is already in the JKH board, he knows how important is the corporate sector to Sri Lanka's development and crushing the corporate sector would impact the entire country. The majority of jobs are offered by the private sector.
Eg: JKH and other major firms were punished by Yahapalanaya by Super gain taxes which was 25%. The corporate tax was 28%. Total Tax paid 53%. If there are severe punishment to corporate sectors, there won't be jobs created and investors would run away from Sri Lanka. We saw exactly the same result due to SGT and still foreigners are selling and taking out their money. This also contributed to the depreciation of rupee.

We all know Mahendran is a criminal. Kabral????? Don't know. Is it the hedging deal you are talking about? Hedging is a financial strategy to minimize commodity price appreciation risk. This is done by many countries and companies internationally. When we faced the oil price crisis, it was a global problem where a barrel went up nearly to US$ 150 and experts predicting it to go up to US$ 180. At that time, Sri Lanka entered in to hedging deal which was a prudent measure. Unfortunately, oil started coming down thereafter but we are compelled to make it as we have entered in to a binding agreement.
We should give credit to Kabral for bringing the interest rates to single digits and managing the BOP well which this government is unable to do so.

Btw, I don't hold JKH and might buy if it comes down below 130/=. However, JKH has to go up if the ASPI to go up.

Dr. Indrajith is a Non Executive Director at JKH.

This is a good news for JKH. I don't think he can continue with JKH but JKH would get some support through CB when making strategic decisions.

By saying that you invite Dr. Indrajith to do the same frauds done by Kabral and Mahendran. Is it ok to do so if  your portfolio goes up ?

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Time to give him latitude (to work things around) than attitudes now.