The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has observed that certain individuals and entities are using financial instruments to raise funds from the public. Some of these entities fail to provide adequate information about the financial instruments and do not follow accepted procedures. This is one of the reasons why CBSL is seeking to increase the public’s awareness of the legal status of financial products, the standard procedures for issuing these instruments, and the risks involved in investing in such instruments.
Debt instrument mobilisation remained flat in Q1 of 2006-07, compared to the corresponding period last year. The financial services sector raised Rs 17,654 crore through the private placement of bonds. State-level undertakings, on the other hand, reduced their borrowings by 77 percent to Rs 50 crore compared to 220 crore in the previous quarter. Private sector debt mobilisation also declined slightly, falling by 12 percent to Rs 2,468 crore. Companies such as Sundaram Finance and Citifinancial mobilised the most funds, each raising Rs 4261/month.
While the term private capital mobilised is a good starting point for measuring the impact of WBG interventions, the concept is not complete without a more comprehensive view. The fact that WBG interventions improve the underlying conditions for private sector activity and investment is an equally important consideration. Private investment catalysed is another term that should be used alongside private capital mobilised. This latter term has several advantages. If a development activity has an impact in the private sector, it will attract resources of a scale required for SDG achievement.
Besides the AGF’s report, a high-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing was recently established by the UN Secretary General. Its mandate was to recommend ways to mobilize climate finance. To this end, the High-Level Advisory Group, which consists of renowned climate scientists, has suggested the establishment of a global allocative mechanism to allocate funds. In addition, the group also recommended that a number of technical assistance activities be incorporated into the data collection process.
