Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday instructed the Central Bank to take immediate measures to pay without delay the deposits of depositors of the Finance Company PLC which failed to recover financially following a reprieve last year.
The Central Bank had to cancel the license of The Finance Company PLC on May 22 due to its failure despite all the measures taken to revive the company.
Central Bank Deputy Central Bank Governor H A Karunaratne promised the Prime Minister that it would take measures to pay 97 percent of the deposits of the depositors from Monday onward while the rest would be settled later.
The Prime Minister made these directives during a discussion held at Temple Trees on the current situation of the Finance Company PLC.
The Prime Minister said that the Central Bank has to take the responsibility for the failure of a finance institution which functioned under its supervision. He also instructed the Central Bank to take action against the malpractices in such finance institutions. He added that if the laws are not adequate, new laws should be formulated to take action against such frauds.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that the continuous failure of the finance institutions under the supervision of the Central Bank could bring the government into disrepute. He added that the people's confidence in state finance institutions is damaged due to this failure. Hence he instructed the Central Bank to take measures against such malpractices in finance institutions.
Ministers Dr Bandula Gunawardena, Dr Ramesh Pathirana, Central Bank Governor Prof W D Lakshman and Prime Minister's Secretary Gamini Senarath also participated in the discussion.