Inaugural Cabinet meeting: Ravi opposes Mangala’s proposal

Power and Energy Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who held the finance portfolio previously, strongly opposed a Cabinet paper, submitted by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, yesterday, seeking approval for securing USD 1 billion from the National Savings Bank to service debt.
The UNF government had its inaugural Cabinet meeting yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ministers Malik Samarawickrema and Lakshman Kiriella backed Samaraweera’s move. Karunanayake reiterated his opposition to the proposal.
Finally, the Cabinet, chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena, approved Samaraweera’s proposal, and Karunanayake’s objections were minuted.
(Source: The Island)
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one billion dollars is a lot of money it is in the order of 1,000,000,000. We would like to know as to how this billion dollars came to be with the Savings Bank for the Savings bank is not expected to receive foreign currency deposits! Central Bank
It is strange that the Savings Bank held one billion dollars further the public has a ridght to know as to how many billions of dollars have been deposited in the Savings Bank.
Further how does the Savings bank raise interests on these billion.