A petition invoking fundamental rights (FR) has been submitted to the Supreme Court, contesting the government’s Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDS) initiative.
The petition has been presented by MP Prof. G.L. Peiris and the General Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
In this petition, the respondents named include the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), its governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, and its Monetary Board, as well as the Secretary of the Finance Ministry, the Attorney General, and several others.
The petitioners are raising concerns about the decision to lower the interest rates offered when investing the assets of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in government securities under the DDO program.
The petitioners have pointed out that the EPF holds active accounts for a minimum of 2.5 million working individuals, and a significant portion of their funds is invested in treasury bills and bonds. They argue that reducing the interest rate to 9% is a violation of the fundamental rights of the people.
Furthermore, the Monetary Board of the CBSL did not seek the opinions of EPF members before permitting the Fund to participate in the DDS program.