The Joint Opposition today claimed that the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has collapsed to such an extent that it is even unable to pay employees’ wages. 

Brokerage firms are continuing to close down their offices located in rural areas, UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena said. 

He said that the latest reason for the stock exchange facing such a crisis for the first time in its history is due to the Prime Minister intervening to halt a share transaction in the market.

The former minister said that the Bank of Ceylon, which owns 7.5% of Seylan Bank shares, sold those shares for Rs 1.1 billion and just 3 days before the transaction was to be finalised, the Prime Minister decided to use his power to cancel the deal. 

Gunawardena charged that the PM’s decision to halt the share trade was immoral and that in no other country have politicians intervened in the stock market in this manner. 

 He said that although the bill to create a ‘super minister’ has still not been passed, the activities of such a ‘super minister’ are already visible now.

The MP added that the government will have to explain why it suddenly suspended the transaction not only to Sri Lanka but also foreigners as the deal involved a Japanese investor. 

He said that when this news reaches the international community, nobody will want to invest in Sri Lanka and that some are even taking steps to withdraw their investments.