The government is taking important steps to strengthen governance and combat corruption amidst political maneuvering to form a care taker administration with frontline UNF ministers and MPs and SLFP stalwarts with the blessings of President Maithripala Sirisena aback of Easter terror.
A considerable progress has been made in implementing the recommendations made by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan to address deficiencies in the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework (MEFP ), Central Bank sources said.
The FATF Plenary is planning an on-site visit to Sri Lanka to verify the implementation of the action plan and its traction.
This could result in Sri Lanka exiting the FATF’s list on Improving Global AML/CFT Compliance, CB said.
Ongoing efforts to support transparent fiscal management and stringent SOE governance are also critical to prevent corruption.
A National Action Plan for Combating Bribery and Corruption in Sri Lanka was approved by cabinet and launched last March, with a concrete and actionable roadmap for 2019–23.
The plan envisages (i) prevention measures; (ii) value-based education and community engagement; (iii) institutional strengthening of Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption commission and other law enforcement agencies; and (iv) law and policy reforms to strengthen anti-corruption efforts and compliance with international obligations.
The government authorities already amended the Bribery Act in July 2018 and established new courts to try bribery and corruption cases.
The International monetary Fund (IMF) welcomed the plan to consolidate all laws related to bribery and corruption into a comprehensive piece of legislation to comply with the United Nations Convention against Corruption treaty.
(LI)