Sri Lanka’s authorised money changers numbering around 65 in Colombo and suburbs have come under Central Bank scrutiny following allegations that they are siphoning off vast amounts of foreign currency.
Authorised dealers are required to hand over the foreign currency they buy to the Central Bank and obtain proceeds in Sri Lankan Rupees.
As part of the investigations, Central Bank officials in disguise are visiting authorised money changers to check whether they are involved in illegal transactions.
These investigations followed complaints that authorised money changers who were only allowed to buy foreign currency and deposit it with the Central Bank were involved in major rackets and financial misappropriations.
Under existing laws authorised money changers should deposit a minimum of US dollars 1.5 million a year with the Central Bank.
A senior treasury official said it had been revealed that the foreign exchange brought into the country was not being fully contributed to the national reserve as part of the money was smuggled out of the country.
Therefore, the Central Bank will take stern action against unauthorised money changers and errant foreign exchange dealers.
However, Authorised Money Changers Association claimed that they were finding it difficult to continue with the business as there were several unauthorised money changers and no action was being taken against them.
He said there were only 65 authorised money changers, but there were a large number who were operating without a licence.
He denied allegations that the authorised money changers were involved in large scale foreign currency rackets.
The Central Bank annually receives more than Rs. 7 billion from money changers.
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