UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake demanded an urgent statement in Parliament regarding the credibility of Sri Lanka’s Gross Official Reserves (GOR), potential foreign exchange leakages, and the consistency of the Central Bank’s regulatory actions.
Speaking in the House, Karunanayake emphasized that reserve strength cannot be judged by “headline numbers alone,” stressing that transparency, enforceability, and regulatory consistency are essential to maintain public and investor confidence.
He urged the government to disclose the latest reported GOR figure and clarify how much of it is actually usable after accounting for encumbered assets, swaps, and pledged balances. He also requested details on the annual revenue generated from reserves between 2023 and 2025.
The MP called for a comprehensive breakdown of the reserves, including the quantity and valuation of monetary gold—questioning whether the holdings are physical gold or paper-based instruments—as well as foreign currency assets by major currency and instrument, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and the IMF reserve position.
Karunanayake pressed for detailed information on foreign currency swaps, including counterparties, principal amounts, maturity profiles, and costs, along with domestic swaps, their rollover terms, collateralization, and effective costs. He questioned how much of the total reported reserves are tied up in swaps or otherwise unavailable for immediate debt servicing or currency stabilization.
Focusing on the Central Bank’s operations, he asked about the spread or margin applied when buying or selling US dollars to the government for reserve accumulation and debt servicing, and the profit the Central Bank has realized from such transactions over the past three financial years.
He also inquired whether the Central Bank undergoes continuous statutory audits by the Auditor General and urged the government to table the latest audit report in Parliament, including reserve confirmations, swap verifications, and gold custody validation.
Karunanayake further questioned the rationale behind a recent circular warning domestic institutions on foreign currency transactions and asked whether authorities have quantified foreign exchange and tax revenue losses resulting from Sri Lanka-based businesses routing credit card and commercial payments through overseas payment gateways.
In a pointed remark, he asked why, if domestic entities are strictly regulated, a binding circular has not been issued against non-compliant businesses using foreign payment gateways that divert foreign exchange outside Sri Lanka’s regulated banking system.
