CBSL:Why no institutional dollar accounts?

I am made aware that red tape seems to preclude the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) from opening ‘US Dollar, GBP, AUSD’ accounts on behalf of such reliable bodies as the SLMA (Sri Lanka Medical Association) and the Medical Specialist Colleges.

Several Sri Lankan doctors residing abroad (and there are many!) are very concerned about the predicament faced by our health service, i.e. shortage of drugs and surgical equipment.

They would like to send dollars etc to reliable non-governmental institutions of their choice, as they have been ‘put-off ’ by the lack of communication (how the dollars will be spent, the authority doing so, not even sending back a letter of receipt or an acknowledgment) in their previous attempts to do so via government sites. In the circumstances it baffles me why ‘executive- speed of action’ has not been taken on this account.

Why non-governmental? It is only fair that they request details of the process as even the COPE Committee findings reveal a lack of standard tender procedures being followed in massive governmental transactions.

Let’s not forget hackers had access to the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s digitized records with impunity. Purchase of drugs as by ‘ local purchase’ as an emergency measure results in costs 2-3x times the normal price, a situation sometimes engineered by colluding authorities for the purpose, by delaying declaration of such shortage.

I hope in times of crisis, as we now face ‘a sense of patriotism’ will prevail.