AG says those are not serious ones:
“You cannot say it is not a serious error,” Justice Chitrasiri:
There are certain data and mathematical errors in an analysis prepared by the Auditor General which he presented to the Presidential Commission that inquires into the Treasury bond issue, it was revealed yesterday.
The AG’s analysis is on the Treasury bond issuance from February 2015 to the end of March 2016.
It comes in as a power point presentation, and is partly based on data derived from the audit report he provided to the COPE committee that inquired into the Treasury bond issue and some new materials as well.
Legal Counsel Chanaka de Silva pointed out there are some errors in the data presented in this analysis regarding a questioned bond auction taken place on March 26, 2016.
De Silva was leading evidence through Auditor General H.M.Gamini Wijesinghe yesterday.
According to the analysis of AG Wijesinghe, the difference between the bids offered at the 26 March 2016 auction and the bids accepted at it, runs up to a 329%. De Silva suggested that the calculation is wrong, because the data included in the relevant graph is incorrect.
Former Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahendran’s Legal Counsel Chanaka de Silva pointed out to the Commission that, on March 26, 2016 Rs.40 billion worth bids have been offered. He was referring to a press release issued by the Central Bank after the said auction.
De Silva producing the relevant press release to the Presidential Commission pointed out that the amount of bids offered that day under four separate ICINs was Rs.40 billion, 10 billion each. Thus, the offered amount of bids taken as a percentage of the accepted amount, is only a 190%, de Silva further pointed out.
De Silva asked whether an error of this nature is not serious, to which AG Wijesinghe said, that he does not consider such an error to be such a serious one.
“We refer to many data and documents when preparing analysis as this and there could be occurrences as these,” AG Wijesinghe said.
Presidential Commission Chairman Supreme Court Judge, Justice K.T.Chitrasiri told AG Wijesinghe that he cannot say that it is not a serious error.
“If this revelation was not done today, we would have considered your analysis to be an accurate one. So it is important that you think carefully before you answer these questions,” Justice Chitrasiri said.
It was also revealed at the Commission that from 2008 to January 2015, direct placements have been offered to the captive sources, below the prevailing market rate, causing losses to bodies such as the Employee’s Provident Fund.
De Silva pointed out to the Commission that within the year 2008 alone, the EPF has under gone a loss of Rs.3.872 billion by purchasing Treasury bonds below the market rate. The Commission requested De Silva to produce calculations regarding the same issue in other years as well.
De Silva said as investing in Treasury bonds and bills carry 0% risk, the EPF could have easily purchased bonds at a higher market rate.
It was also revealed that only 0.58% of all the Rs.4.7 trillion issued via direct placements from 2008-2015, have been issued correctly.
AG Wijesinghe is to testify before the Commission next Monday (19) as well.
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