Sunil Mendis: Creating a challenging and stimulating work environment New Year Message 2005 by Mr Sunil Mendis, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, to all employees of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1 January 2005. *  *  *  I issue this traditional New Year message at a time when the whole of Sri Lanka has been engulfed by a national tragedy caused by “tsunamis” that hit the country on 26th December, 2004. I take this opportunity to express our deepest condolence to the members of the families of bank employees who have lost their lives and to our employees and their loved ones who have suffered by this calamity. At the same time, I wish to share the sorrows of those employees who have lost their property. Words are insufficient but hope that they would move forward from this tragedy. With the magnitude of the disaster, there is no question that our nation needs to be rebuilt. Hence, as employees of a state organization which is at the apex of the country’s financial system, we have an invaluable task to perform. In this context, I place my message before you with the plea that we take part in the nation-building task by offering our maximum efforts. I have been greatly encouraged by the positive response which all the employees have demonstrated towards the provision of relief to victims and rebuilding of the nation.
With the change in the MLA, the organizational structure of the Central Bank has undergone a major transformation on a function-oriented basis to support its objectives and functions. The Departments of the Bank were grouped into four major categories under the headings of price stability, financial system stability, agency services, and corporate and support services. The two Deputy Governors have been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the achievement of the two core functions. The vacancies to the posts of Assistant Governors (AGs) have been filled and they have been entrusted with line responsibilities with a view to building the 3rd and 4th layers of succession in the Bank’s managerial hierarchy. BIS Review 1/2005  1  Price Stability means maintaining a low inflation rate. Central banks are mandated to maintain price stability as their main objective in order to create a conducive environment for long-term sustainable economic growth by eliminating uncertainties, protecting the value of financial assets, enabling all economic agents to take a long-term view of the economy and ensuring the well being of the general public. Maintaining price stability during the course of 2005 will prove to be a very challenging task given the surging oil prices, which may continue for some time during the year, and the enhancement of demand pressure on the price level on account of wage increases in the government sector.