UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena said that brokerage firms are continuing to close down their offices located in rural areas. 

He added that the latest reason for the stock exchange facing such a crisis for the first time in its history is due to the Prime Minister intervening to halt a share transaction in the market.

MP further said that the Bank of Ceylon, which owns 7.5% of Seylan Bank shares, sold those shares for Rs 1.1 billion and just 3 days before the transaction was to be finalised, the Prime Minister decided to use his power to cancel the deal.

MP Gunawardena claimed that the PM’s decision to halt the share trade was immoral and that in no other country have politicians intervened in the stock market in this manner.

He added that the government will have to explain why it suddenly suspended the transaction not only to Sri Lanka but also foreigners as the deal involved a Japanese investor.

Former minister pointed out that when this news reaches the international community, nobody will want to invest in Sri Lanka and that some are even taking steps to withdraw their investments.

The Joint Opposition also claimed that the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has collapsed to such an extent that it is even unable to pay employees’ wages