The Lanka Academic carried an online "Question and Answer" session with the Governor of the Central Bank, Sri Lanka, Mr. Amarananda Somasiri Jayawardene from February 5 to February 26, 2001. Listed below are your questions. We have forwarded these questions to the Governor and are awaiting his responses.

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Amarananda Somasiri Jayawardene, has been the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Chairman of the Monetary Board since 1995. He was Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning, and Secretary to the Treasury from 1994-1995, and Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank from 1993-1994. Educated at St. Thomas' College, Matale, and Royal College, Colombo, he received his first degree, BA(Hon) from the University of Peradeniya in 1957. He holds an MSc in Public Sector Economics from the London School of Economics (1965). In the USA, he held the Edward Mason Fellowship at Harvard University, Cambridge, from 1974 to 1975. He was the General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon (1976-1977), Secretary, Ministry of Industries, Science and Technology (1989-1993), Director General of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Planning(1986-1987) and the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon and the Merchant bank of Sri lanka (1987-1989). Mr. Jayawardene was the Alternate Executive Director, International exceutive positions with the Central Bank and other public institutions, represented Sri Lanka at several conferences, and has published widely.

23	Tue Feb 20 02:24:33 EST 2001 DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT WILL MAINTAIN A FISCAL DECIPLINE REQUIRED FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE POLICY OF FLOATING OF THE RUPEE.  -  LUXMAN SIRIWARDENA, GONAWALA, KELANIYA Answer: Not available yet.
22	Sat Feb 17 18:22:11 EST 2001 There was a speculation that the interest gained on NRFC accounts will be taxed. Will this be implemented soon?  -  Ransiri Fernando, Melbourne,Australia Answer: Not available yet.
21	Sat Feb 17 03:31:41 EST 2001 We know that, job agents who send people for foreign employment and hoteliers who bring foreign tourists to the country and the owners of garment factories are privileged for a lot of perks by the government, such as duty free cars etc. The reason being that they bring in much needed foreign currency to the country. As the head of a very important financial establishment in the country, can you please explain why the expatriate workers who toil hard in difficult conditions and earn the much needed exchange with less expenses, than the other categories who need huge loans to set up business, not given those benefits.  -  Rajapakse D.K.J, Oman Answer: Not available yet.
20	Fri Feb 16 12:26:31 EST 2001 IN YOUR OPINION, ON WHAT BASIS IS A DUPUTY FINANCE MINISTER PORTFOLIO GIVEN TO A MEMBER OF THE GOVERNMENT?  -  RUDY, CALIFORNIA, USA Answer: Not available yet.
19	Fri Feb 16 03:48:49 EST 2001 How do you propose to activate economic conditions in a country which faces a deficit in liquidity in terms of it's national currency while having a higher deficit of balance of payments & large budget deficit along with the declining international reserves compared with the large foreign currency liabilities in terms of public debt.  -  Dhananjaya Ekanayake, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka Answer: Not available yet.
18	Wed Feb 14 13:18:38 EST 2001 Dear Sir, As a collector of modern coins and knowing your beautiful country personally, I am interested in those many nice issues of your country, but it is almost impossible to get them. I suggest to make arrangements to satisfy the interest of many collectors and to have your coin department handle orders from abroad. Best wishes from Vienna W. Schuster  -  Dr. Wolfgang Schuster, Vienna, Austria Answer: Not available yet.
17	Tue Feb 13 12:07:03 EST 2001 In a graph I show at http://lakdiva.com/lkrusd/ it seems that the rupee is depreciating against the US$ on avearage about 7% per year over the last 40 years. Do you have any comments ? Since even the rupee is now worth less than the 1/4 cent and the 1/2 when they were demonetized in 1910 and 1941, what is the position of the Central bank on the coins below 25 cents you now don't see in circulation and not minted since 1994 and not issued by the bank on standard request.  -  Dr Kavan Ratnatunga, Pittsburgh, USA Answer: Not available yet.
16	Tue Feb 13 09:10:34 EST 2001 Dear Mr.Jayewardene,there has been some reports in the media of projected concessions to NRFC account holders as they are considered important foreign exchange earners for the country.Hitherto this category of people have had no particular benefits coming their way, like say those garment exporters and BOI industrialists who spend exchange just as much as they earn it.For instance they could import duty free vehicles. A concession granted to foreign exchange remitting Lankan expatriates in the past was withdrawn.Would you agree that such a concession at least for the returning professionals may act as positive incentive for higher remittances?.Thank You  -  Don Liyanage, Brunei Answer: Not available yet.
15	Sat Feb 10 01:57:28 EST 2001 What role do you play in the preparation of the National Appropriation Bill? ( The Budget ) Do the politicians ever think/discuss of finding ways to get a balanced budget even after 10 years? In your opinion when will Sri Lanka get a balanced budget or a surplus budget?  -  Puthi, Los Angeles,California, USA Answer: Not available yet.
14	Fri Feb 9 23:13:39 EST 2001 Do you agree war is the cause for floating the Rupee. If so is war worth the excersise of this extra buden passed on to to the comman man in addition to already high Cost of living  -  S.Santhirasegaran, Canada Answer: Not available yet.
13	Fri Feb 9 02:05:11 EST 2001 Sir As I understand one of the motives for free floating is to encourage the transmitting of Dollars to Sri Lanka due to higher rate of conversion. This purpose will be lost if businessmen will prefer to wait for the Dollar to further appreciate before they transmit their foreign currencies. Did you envisage any remedy for this? The speculation is that the US Dollar will go upto Rs. 100/- by year end. Thanks you  -  Mohamed Rishard, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Answer: Not available yet.
12	Wed Feb 7 15:01:14 EST 2001 Govenor, Let me thank you for giving us an opportunity to as you questions. 1) What is the period between banking a foreign US Bankers $ draft and realizing the proceeds in RS & CTS 2) Is there a reason why a banker's cheque not treated as travelers Cheques? In one instance a bankers draft took 10 week to clear. Amount was $1,000.00 [Edited by moderator]  -  Bodipala Wijeyesinghe, London Answer: Not available yet.
11	Wed Feb 7 13:54:21 EST 2001 I heard that the central bank was sold or merged with a British company.( for the expansion) 1) Is this true , 2) If this is true, what are the benifits that the sri lankan people will get ? [Edited by moderator]  -  gihan, gihansha@hotmail.com Answer: Not available yet.
10	Wed Feb 7 02:10:43 EST 2001 Did the central bank review, evaluate and adjust the fiscal and physical policies to suit a comprehensive free float? What is our primary objective in undertaking this measure?  -  Podinilame Dissanayake, Los Angeles, California Answer: Not available yet.
9	Tue Feb 6 11:02:20 EST 2001 Dear Mr.Governor My question is regarding the decision making process at the Central Bank. Was the decison for floating made by the economists at the the Central Bank or was there any "political" input from the President as the Finance Minister? What constructive role do the Deputy Ministers for Finance play in financial planning in Sri Lanka given the duplication of portofolios? [Edited by moderator]  -  Kumar Premawarnaweera, Birmigham , AL, USA Answer: Not available yet.
8	Tue Feb 6 04:53:43 EST 2001 Mr. Jayawardana, Is free floating of Rupee a must at this time? What are the economic factors that had been considered to take this decission? Central Bank has a history of decisions taken to put the economy in the right path, yet end up in failure and therefore how would this decision differ from previous ones?  -  Sisira Vitharana, Southampton Answer: Not available yet.
7	Mon Feb 5 12:11:37 EST 2001 Dear Mr. Jayawardene, From 1948 to about 1977 we were concentrating on being "self sufficient" and focused on using local resources and locally manufactured goods. Then we changed gears and embraced so called "open market" economy. What is your opinion on these two contrasting economic models? In your opinion what is the appropriate model for Sri Lanka?  -  Ransirimal Fernando, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Answer: Not available yet.
6	Mon Feb 5 01:56:12 EST 2001 1. What is the current official rate of inflation in Sri Lanka? 2. On what base- year is the Consumer index to determine this rate based? 3. How realistic is a rate based on such a year?  -  Shyamon Jayasinghe, 10 Isaac Smith Crescent, Endeavour Hills Vic3802 Australia Answer: Not available yet.
5	Sun Feb 4 21:43:01 EST 2001 Dear Sir, According to reports, remittances from Sri Lankan’s working abroad is the single largest foreign currency contribution to our country. Currently other than NRFC accounts basically there is no other concessions or facilities provided for these people. Though NRFC is tax free, the goods bought from the same money is taxed in the form of GST. I would like to know what can be done to encourage Foreign workers to remit more money. Thank You [Edited by moderator]  -  Afzal M Ismail, Singapore Answer: Not available yet.
4	Sun Feb 4 17:29:07 EST 2001 As we can see there are number of negative impacts from the free-flot of Sri Lankan currency. What's the main reason behind such a decision? What are the positives that SL economy can expect from this?  -  D.M.S. Wanigaratne, Melbourne Answer: Not available yet.
3	Sun Feb 4 12:55:49 EST 2001 Dear Mr. Jayawardene Have we not learnt lessons by listening to the world bank instructions since 1977? Is it not the time that the educated Sri lankan economists like you foreward a productive plan for the development of Sri lanka? If the free-float is not going to uplift the economy from its graveyard where it is today, are you still going to seek World bank's instructions?  -  Sisira Mahalekam, Singapore Answer: Not available yet.
2	Sun Feb 4 04:55:41 EST 2001 Dear Mr. Jayawardene, I appreciate that you have made yourself available to answer peoples concerns about the Sri Lankan economy. By the decision to free-float the Rupee, has not the Monetary Board abdicated one of it's main responsibilities? Given the current level of foriegn exchange reserves, what guarantee does the Central Bank have that the Rupee may not go into a free fall in the next round of money market speculation? Thank you.  -  Priyantha Rathnayake, Canada Answer: Not available yet.
1	Sun Feb 4 02:05:16 EST 2001 Was the decision to float the Srilankan rupee made in order to appease the donor countries and agencies? Is Srilanka turning into another Indonesia?  -  P. Julian, Melbourne - Australia Answer: Not available yet.