Sri Lanka needs a professional debt management office-Dr. Nishan de Mel

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The Annual Budget seminar organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka was held in Colombo this morning (March 09). Chief Executive Officer of Verité Research, Dr. Nishan de Mel stressed that it is absolutely necessary to have a professional debt management office for the country. He noted that managing debt, both the quantity and the cost of debt is a crucial task to be carried out by public financial management. He added that it definitely needs professional attention as it could avoid horrendous scams like the bond scandal which damaged the Sri Lankan economy. According to Dr. Nishan de Mel, the bond scandal proved that the prevalent system of debt management is outdated and it needs professionalism. He enlightened that although the US and UK debt to GDP ratios are almost similar to the Sri Lankan ratio their borrowed interest rate is at 2% while Sri Lanka has a rate around 6.5% and above.

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