Cabinet approval has been granted to amend the Samurdhi Act in order to subject Samurdhi Community-Based Banks and Samurdhi Community-Based Banking Societies to audits by the National Audit Office.
According to the government, there are 1092 Samurdhi community-based banks and 335 Samurdhi community-based banking Societies functioning across the country which promote microfinance activities.
As per the provisions of the Samurdhi Act, the Samurdhi Community-Based banks and Samurdhi Community-Based banking societies are audited annually by the Internal Audit Division of the Samurdhi Development Department.
However, the Samurdhi Act does not include the provision that they should be audited by the National Audit Office.
Therefore, it has been recognized that auditing Samurdhi banking activities by the National Audit Office will also help maintain transparency in their operations and increase public confidence and acceptance.
As such, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Social Empowerment to amend the Samurdhi Act No.1 of 2013 as amended by Divineguma (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2017 and to advise the legal draftsman to prepare the respective bill for this purpose. (Newswire)