BBS Warns About the Religious Banking System
One of the major topics of discussion today is whether or not Sri Lanka needs a religious banking system. The Sinhala Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) first voiced concern over this issue by sending a letter to the Auditor General giving reasons why such a banking system should not be introduced in the country.
The BBS letter made it clear they had received information of an attempt to obtain a loan to the extent of US$ 1 billion in order to stave off the economic decline the country is facing at present. The loan, the letter states, will be given subject to Sri Lanka agreeing to introduce and implement the Islamic Banking System in the country. The letter further states that initial steps in this regard have already been taken.
BBS Chief Executive Officer, Dilantha Vithanage says the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) that have ruled the country since Independence should take responsibility for putting the country into the grave economic decline we are witnessing today. Therefore, they must not drag the country into further chaos by introducing a religious banking system, he says.
Vithanage said the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and fulfilled preliminary conditions to obtain a loan from its Islamic Development Bank to the extent of US$ 1 billion. The BBS Chief Executive further said Saudi authorities have put forward terms and conditions in order to grant the loan, one of them being that the domestic banking system be changed in accordance with Sharia banking law. If that happens, the country will face major issues in the future, Vithanage said.
The February 26 letter had drawn the attention of President Maithripala Sirisena resulting in the Presidential Office seeking clarification from the Secretary of the Ministry of National Policy and Economic Affairs, W.I. M. Ranjith, as to whether the Ministry has taken any steps to implement a religious banking system in the country. The Presidential Office has also instructed the Ministry to submit a report on the BBS claim within two weeks.
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