COPF asks govt. why it shared IMF pact with other committees

COPF (Committee on Public Finance) Chairman and SJB MP, Dr Harsha de Silva, has demanded to know why the government allegedly shared the Staff-Level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with other official committees, before submitting it to the COPF.Dr de Silva has, in a tweet, questioned why the IMF Staff-Level Agreement had been

shared with committees, appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.He has said if the allegation is true, then it will amount to a serious breach of privilege.In response to the issues raised by Dr de Silva, State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, has said the actions that need to be completed before any formal approval by the IMF Executive Board were being discussed with government authorities.

Semasinghe has said that the IMF “Staff-Level Agreement” is not a document but an understanding between the government of Sri Lanka and the IMF staff. “This does not mean that a “Staff-Level Agreement” has been given out to various individuals, as alleged, he has claimed, adding that the IMF press release, with elements of this understanding, was already in the public domain.