Public Petition

June 25, 2012 (LBO) - A former financial sector professional has written Sri Lanka's main political parties to help citizens petition parliament over risks facing the island's banking sector following report by Standard and Poor's, a rating agency. S & P said Sri Lanka's banks faced high economic risks and regulatory conflicts, particularly after a retirement fund administered by the Central Bank started buying up bank stocks.

The report however did not say banks themselves were unsound.

Chandra Jayarante, who headed an insurance firm, has asked for a petition to be allowed to be a presented to a committee that is supposed to consider such requests in terms of Sri Lanka's parliamentary procedures.

The full letter is reproduced below.

Open Letter to the Leaders of the under noted Groups Represented in the Parliament of Sri Lanka;

Peoples Alliance Parliamentary Group
United National Party Parliamentary Group
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentary Group
Janatha Vimuthi Peramuna Parliamentary Group
Democratic National Alliance Parliamentary Group

A Request to Present a Public Petition before the Committee on Public Petitions

It is duly recognized that there exists