The Parliament Committee on Public Finance (COPF) has recommended to postpone the recent salary hike of Central Bank staff that was paid under the claim of Central Bank independence.
COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha De Silva yesterday (20) informed Parliament that an independent committee should be appointed by the Finance Minister with the agreement of the Central Bank Governor to look into the salary hike of the Central Bank employees and to suspend the salary hike until the report is submitted.
The Chairman said the report of the committee should be submitted within four weeks.
“The committee can have members made up of the central bank, independent persons, government representatives and the committee should come up with a transparent system for deciding salaries in the future,” he said.
The COPF recommends that until a mutually acceptable salary increment is agreed, the Central Bank should suspend the current hike. The salary scales of professional and non-professional grades should be de-linked, he added.
The COPF Chairman further said the Parliament’s control of public finances extended to Central Bank profits as well and it was not outside. Other than for monetary policy operations, any other activities were not covered by central bank independence, he said.
