‘Bond Scam, other frauds led to present economic crisis’

Our country became a victim of the world economic crisis due to the Central Bank Treasury Bond scam and other acts of corruption during the previous regime, State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said yesterday.

“When the world faced an economic crisis, our country too became a victim of it due to the Central Bank Bond Scam and other acts of corruption by the group who is posing as the Opposition today,” he said.

He said that concrete steps are being taken by the present Government to get out of the present situation based on the advice of eminent personnel in various fields.

The State Minister made these comments at a media briefing held at the State Ministry premises of Samurdhi yesterday.

Semasinghe said that certain groups are trying to create a sugar shortage in the country today. We say very clearly that strict legal action will be taken against those who are collecting and hiding stocks of sugar illegally and those who support them.

“The Opposition can say anything. We have given them the opportunity to air their concerns. What we are experiencing now are the results of the destruction that the opposition wrought in our country,” he said.

Today, when the world is facing an economic crisis our country became a main victim of that crisis due to the role the Opposition played then.

Semasinghe said that the economy of our country collapsed rapidly during 2015–2019. “We saw how the Central Bank Treasury Bond fraud took place in February and June of 2015.”

Part of this destruction is due to the Covid-19 pandemic and on the other hand due to the group that is now in the Opposition who ruled the country from 2015 to 2019. All of us are now suffering as a result of those thefts and frauds.

This is a period when there is a huge impact on the economy. We regret the fact that the opposition is attempting to get rid of the trust that the people have and is trying to hinder the vaccination programme while it has been expedited in order to enable us to reopen the country and overcome the inconveniences and problems being faced by the people.

(Source: Daily News)