Mar 08, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) says the move by the state-owned National Savings Bank's (NSB) to go for a US$ 1 billion international bond sale is to facilitate government borrowings.

UNP parliamentarian, Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva questioning why the NSB would need US$ 1 billion said the bond sale is clearly aimed at channeling funds back to the government.

He noted that it was a system of creative accounting where the government, after claiming it would not borrow in the commercial market, is borrowing monies through state banks.

According to Dr. de Silva, the debt would not increase in the debt to GDP ratio.

He has observed that the government was trying to use state banks to deviate from court rulings.

Sri Lanka has decided not to go for an international sovereign bond sale this year as it had done in the previous three years.

HSBC, Citibank NA and Barclays will be the lead managers for the NSB's international bond sale, a Reuters report said.