Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe on Tuesday (17) informed the Parliament that Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran will be on leave until investigation on the treasury bonds issue is concluded.
The Sri Lankan-born international banker, who was only appointed to the post on January 23, has been in the spotlight recently due to the controversy surrounding a Treasury bond issue by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
There had been rising concerns in bond markets over controversial deals made over the past week by Perpetual Treasuries, a firm connected to Arjun Aloysius, the son-in-law of Governor Arjuna Mahendran.
President Maithripala Sirisena last week appointed a three member committee to investigate alleged irregularities surrounding the bond issue.
