Business

Current ‘discourse’ on CBSL salary revisions ‘extremely partial and based on personal agendas’

Published

3 years ago

2024/02/27

We, the Central Bank Executive Officers’ Union (CBEOU), as a professional union representing the Executive Officers of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, wish to clarify some facts, as it was evident that the discourse on the recent salary revision of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is extremely partial and raised without proper knowledge of the facts and / or based on mere personal agendas, the CBEOU said in a press release.

The release signed by the Union’s General Secretary M.N.P. Jayaweera and president, D.J. Perera, explains: ‘Central Bank of Sri Lanka was established as an independent institution since its inception. Accordingly, the previous Monetary Boards as well as the current Governing Board have been assigned the decision-making independence related to administration on a logical basis and that administrative independence remains the same for other central banks around the world.

‘Accordingly, since the inception, the Monetary Board decided the recruitment procedures, professional training and salaries related to the Central Bank service. It should also be mentioned that neither the previous Monetary Boards or the present Governing Board include the employees of the Central Bank, and that the members of the Governing Board are scholars and professionals in a variety of fields of the country. Considering the corporate governance practices, salary revisions have been done in every three years in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for several decades as similar to certain state sector establishments.

‘The 2024-2026 collective agreement is an agreement reached by all parties after several rounds of bargaining between all the unions and the Governing Board of the Bank. Accordingly, all parties are bound to work under the terms of the collective agreement for the next three years.

‘It is no secret to society that salaries in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are at an elevated level compared to other government services. Also, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which is the apex financial institution in the financial system that supervises licensed banks and registered non-bank financial institutions, must be compensated competitively in line with the institutions they supervise, in order to discharge their duties without influence. Due to this situation, the educated youth community of this country is eager to leave jobs in the government as well as private sector to join the Central Bank service. Students with a First or Second Upper-Class degree in a limited range of subjects are recruited to the Central Bank staff class after passing a highly competitive examination and interview(s). It is also a known fact that the passing percentage is exceptionally low for this entry examination.

‘Furthermore, unlike other government employees, there are many other limiting factors including legal barriers that make it impossible for the Central Bank professionals to use their professional qualifications to set up private practice. Since, the Central Bank is not a commercial institution and is a closed service, the promotion opportunities available to Central Bank employees are rather limited.

‘It is a generally accepted opinion that if there are limiting factors related to a service, a specific payment (compensation) should also be made related to that service. Further, the salary of a particular job is determined based on the responsibilities pertaining to its delivery, the qualifications to be met and the demand/supply for the job in the labor market. Based on the knowledge and practice of central bankers, their potential job market will be the financial sector or monetary policy making within or outside the country. In the past year alone, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has lost nearly a hundred officers of its wealth of human capital, and the fact that some have joined international organizations including the World Bank and its affiliates, Bank of England, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, etc. is a confirmation of such movements.

‘If this salary revision did not take place, a considerable number of the remaining officers would have left the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as well as the country and the Bank’s activities could have been severely disrupted. It is such a pity that the ongoing criticisms utterly disregard this reality. It is not clear why those who raised their voice over the possible brain drain in the past are raising their voice against the measures taken to prevent it from happening.

‘Moreover, in a backdrop of no revision of pensions, the fact that the pensions of Central Bank pensioners have been increased by about 70% is a complete fallacy, and it is apparent that such news was purposely planted in the society to tarnish the image of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in the face of personal agendas of certain parties.

‘For the progression of a society, existence of rational discourse is beneficial, but we can clearly observe the political and personal agendas operating under the guise of the one-sided dialogue in the society at present. In view of the inflation and existing tax burden in the country, private institutions including some private banks have taken various measures to avoid the inconvenience caused to their employees, and it is the opinion of our union that salaries should be revised in other sectors including government institutions.

‘Even though it has been proclaimed through a Supreme Court decision as to who holds responsibility for the country’s economic crisis, basis for accusing the Central Bank officials as “economic hit men”, should be explained by the so-called politicians before the society. Similarly, if there are (or were) such officers, there is no impediment in taking appropriate disciplinary actions against such individuals through an independent investigation and such an independent investigation process will definitely receive the fullest support of our professional Union.’

All News Advertisement

Up Next

Cabinet nod to revive micro, small and medium enterprise sector

Don't Miss

Tea production and prices leaving much to be desired

Click to comment

Business

Needs of populace hit by Cyclone Ditwah seen as waiting to be addressed

Published

8 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Lionel Bopage: ‘Recovery painfully slow.’

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The government is yet to address fully the needs of the Cyclone Ditwah affected populace though one year has elapsed. The devastation cost the country more than US $ 4.1 billion, an Australia-based Chartered Engineer of Sri Lankan origin said.

‘Cyclone Ditwah affected more than 2.2 million people in 25 districts, which is considered to be one tenth of the population. However, only 39 percent of the allocated funds have been spent to date, the speaker, a one-time General Secretary of the JVP, now living in Australia Lionel Bopage said.

He made these comments at a Rotary Club Colombo South monthly meeting held at the Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo recently.

Bopage quoted from a Loughborough University research report published in February to the effect that Sri Lanka has under invested in prevention but over invested in recovery.

Bopage added: ‘The largest single economic category affected were not buildings but the agriculture sector which provides livelihoods for the majority of affected persons. Therefore agricultural livelihoods have been hit most.

‘More than 58,000 hectares of paddy lands were flooded in the Eastern districts alone, while 46 reservoirs reached critical spill level or failed outright following the disaster.

‘A rapid education sector assessment found that 1,682 schools were affected and more than 555,000 children were unable to attend schools. Further, 622 water supply schemes had been left non-functional and apart from that 11300 homes were damaged or destroyed. But reconstruction is happening at a very slow pace.

‘Tens of thousands of households in the hill country and in the East are still living in damaged properties and on unstable slopes drawing water from schemes that have not been restored.

‘ A Post Disaster Needs Assessment put the cost of resilience at US$ 3.4 billion but restoration work is happening at a slow pace even with foreign donor assistance.’

Business

WB forecast buoys bourse but weak investor participation slows momentum

Published

8 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The CSE yesterday kicked off on a positive note due to a World Bank forecast that Sri Lanka could achieve 4.4 percent economic growth this year but later lost momentum due to weak investor participation.

Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 132 points while S and P SL20 rose by 21.02 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.97 billion with three crossings. Those crossings were; Lanka IOC 2.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 470 million; its shares traded at Rs 127, CCS 2.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 315 million; its shares sold at Rs 118 and JKH five million shares crossed for Rs 91.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 18.30.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Commercial Credit and Finance Rs 126 million (1.3 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 98 million (775,000 shares traded), Asiri Surgical Hospitals Rs 77 million (7.6 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 51.3 million (307,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 46 million (325,000 shares traded), HNB Rs 37 million (98000 shares traded) and Tokyo Cement Rs 31 million (393,000 shares traded). During the day 50 million share volumes changed hands in 14547 transactions.

It is said that the petroleum sector performed well, especially Lanka IOC, while in the banking sector counters, especially Commercial Bank and Sampath Bank performed well. In the manufacturing sector, JKH impressed.

TAL Lanka Hotels announced that it has scheduled an Extraordinary General Meeting on October 29 to obtain shareholder approval for a proposed Rs 1.87 billion rights issue. The proceeds will be utilized for the repayment of bank borrowings, part refurbishment of the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo, settlement of vendor liabilities, and general corporate requirements.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 330.95/331.05 to the US dollar in the spot market, weaker from Rs 330.85/95 the previous day, while bond yields were quoted broadly steady, dealers said.

Business

Huawei continues to showcase practical AI applications at Sri Lanka AI Week 2026

Published

8 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka AI Week 2026 continued into its second day bringing together government, industry, academia and technology partners to explore practical applications of artificial intelligence. As the AI Technology Partner for the second consecutive year, Huawei showcased 18 use cases spanning government, education, finance, industry, green energy and everyday life, demonstrating how AI can be applied to real-world needs.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya visited the Huawei exhibition together with officials from the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, experiencing the Smart Classroom, AI in Education and MindGraph by Beijing Normal University demonstrations. The Smart Classroom demostration highlighted how connected technologies can bring teachers and students in different locations into a shared learning environment, while the AI in Education showcase demonstrated how AI can support teachers, enhance learning and enable more personalised education. The Prime Minister praised the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Huawei and their partners to demonstrate practical applications of AI in education, noting the role of technology in supporting teachers, expanding learning opportunities, and advancing a more inclusive, equitable and future-ready education system.

Later in the day, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy Waruna Sri Dhanapala, and Chinese Ambassador Wei Huaxiang visited the Huawei exhibition and explored the AI Hands-On Classroom AI Empowering Industry, AI in Education and Smart Classroom demonstrations. Deputy Minister Weeraratne praised Huawei’s practical approach to showcasing AI applications, noting their relevance to Sri Lanka’s digital transformation across education, industry and skills development. The engagement also extended across the wider AI ecosystem, with industry professionals, technology partners, academics and other visitors engaging with the demonstrations and expressing appreciation for Huawei’s practical approach to applying AI across different areas of society and the economy.

Daniel Wu, CEO of Huawei Sri Lanka, said that Huawei will continue bringing global experience, technology and ecosystem resources to Sri Lanka, while working side by side with local partners to build local capabilities, develop local talent and create real value for the country. “I believe that by working together, we can make AI not only more intelligent, but also more local, more inclusive, and more meaningful for everyone,” he said.