. in 2002, in an amendment to the monetary law act no. 58 of 1949, the objectives of the central bank bis central bankers ’ speeches were re - defined as “ economic and price stability ” and “ financial system stability ”, with a view to encouraging and promoting the development of the productive resources of sri lanka. fiscal policy is the framework that is implemented by the government in order to influence economic activities via the allocation of resources towards achieving the overall goals of stability and growth. this policy framework is mainly implemented through the ministry of finance ( mof ) in sri lanka, with the traditional policy tools used for this purpose being taxation, government expenditure & borrowing, and debt management. in the meantime, it would also be noted that the financing of the budget and debt management has monetary implications, while the composition of debt instruments, the timing of debt issues and their maturities, has a close relationship with both fiscal and monetary implications. we need to understand that fiscal policy is broader than taxation. therefore, perhaps the next post - budget seminar of the institute should attempt to convey this position so that the popular misconception amongst many chartered accountants that “ fiscal policy is only about taxation ” is removed, thereby encouraging accountants to focus on fundamental fiscal philosophies and implementation methods at their important pre and post - budget seminars. needless to say, a greater appreciation of the entirety of the fiscal policies would enable chartered accountants to pay more attention to the wide range of subjects encompassing fiscal policy, so that the accountants ’ knowledge and ideas in this field could be regularly harnessed for the benefit of the country at large. mr. chairman, while it may be reasonably easy to define what monetary policy and fiscal policy means, it would not be so easy to define as to under whose purview such policies would fall into, when it comes to implementation. of course, it is clear that the bulk of the monetary policy would be the direct responsibility of the central bank, and the bulk of the fiscal policy would be the responsibility of the ministry of finance. however, there are several grey areas and overlaps, which blur the boundaries of these policy frameworks, and therefore, there are many instances of policy actions of one institution impacting and influencing upon the policy framework of the other, and vice versa. relationship between the central bank and the ministry of finance with that in mind, let us now examine as to how the relationship between the central bank and the ministry of finance have been structured according to our laws.

sunil mendis : a brief look at financial information technology keynote address by mr sunil mendis, governor of the central bank of sri lanka, for the financial information systems seminar, colombo, 8 september 2004. * * * his excellency akio suda, the ambassador for japan in sri lanka, mr yoshihisa onishi, executive director, fisc, other officers from the fisc in japan, ladies and gentlemen, the central bank of sri lanka is happy to co - sponsor this programme together with the fisc of japan ( center for financial industry information systems ), in view of the importance of financial information technology in the financial services industry. sri lanka is no exception to continuous changes in the technology used by its financial services industry. in a market driven financial system, for information to be effective, there should be two vital ingredients, that is system integrity and timeliness - both of which are crucial. the more dependable your information systems are, the more efficient and competitive banks can be as a player in the financial services industry. that is why we see banks investing heavily in it. globally too, with the interdependence of markets their integration is facilitated through information systems which link these markets which make the world a very small place indeed on a pc monitor where the whole world is virtually at your doorstep. the fisc, therefore, has contributed significantly, over the last 20 years, to making information systems more efficient and dependable through their research activities and technical co - operation programmes which have been extended to asian countries such as sri lanka. of particular interest to banks would be the security guidelines on computer systems and audit guidelines for information systems of financial institutions, which they have issued. some of these can be used as guidelines by our banking industry. government and the people of japan have contributed immensely to the development of this country for many decades in the past in different fields and their support in sharing their knowledge on financial information system with the sri lankan financial sector is greatly appreciated. in this connection i wish to thank the fisc who has devoted so much of its time and effort to bring in expertise in this area to market participants in sri lankaa€™s financial system. this would also provide a good forum for our banks to exchange ideas on specific security features adopted by the fisc. i have no doubt that this seminar will provide an excellent opportunity for useful interaction amongst participants, and i would like to convey my best wishes.