Government faced barrage of questions regarding shrunken cash reserve

The government on Tuesday faced a barrage of more than 50 questions during the emergency session in parliament in response to the scandal at the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS). The coalition and the opposition were on the same page. Most of the questions were about the involvement of the supervisory board at the Central Bank of Suriname and what the government will do to regain the trust of the nation. Almost all of the legislators pointed out that the exchange rates spiraled out of control on Tuesday. Most of the legislators believe that the control mechanism at the Central Bank of Suriname has failed as $100 million of the foreign currency that had been deposited was lost. MP Daniella Sumter (NDP), MP Rossellie Cotino, MP Melvin Bouva, MP Jennifer Vreedzaam and MP Rajiv Ramsahai all wanted to know if the governor of the Central Bank and the chairman of the board of directors actually discuss things. MP Carl Breeveld (DOE) pointed out that there is a serious contradiction between the perceptions of President

Desi Bouterse and Vice President Ashwin Adhin when it comes to financing budget deficits.

VP Adhin claimed that the money was used to Carry out interventions on the foreign currency market and to purchase basic goods while President Bouterse previously stated that the deficits would not be financed with loans from the Central Bank of Suriname. “The final responsibility of all of this is in the hands of the minister of Finance,” said MP Chandrikapersad Santokhi (VHP). MP Santokhi and MP Gregory Rusland (NPS) asked several questions regarding the purchases that the Central Bank of Suriname made on the real estate market. MP Rusland presented a proposal aimed at selling the buildings that are located in the inner city again so that the money that was wrongfully withdrawn from the cash reserve can be returned.