Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran has resumed his duties after a more than five-week voluntary leave of absence after being cleared by a panel investigating a controversial government bond auction, Reuters reported.

The three member panel of legal experts probing the auction said recently that it had cleared Mahendran of any direct role in the decision to increase the size of the sale by 10 times, while calling for tighter supervision of the government's borrowing office.

"The governor is in office today for the first time after he went on leave," a central bank official told Reuters on Thursday on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media.

Mahendran went on leave of absence on March 16 after opposition parties pressed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government to sack him and hold an independent investigation into the bond auction. The prime minister appointed the three-member panel to probe the deal following the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena.

Mahendran, a Sri Lankan-born Singapore national, was questioned by the Bribery Commission recently and was also banned from traveling abroad.

The main opposition says the higher yield would cost the government an extra 45 billion rupees ($338.60 million) and has alleged that the government has been trying to cover up the issue with a simple commission report.

Deputy Investment Minister Eran Wickramaratne rejected the opposition claim on the losses, but said the deal has caused damage to the Wickremesinghe government, the Reuters report added.
(With inputs from Reuters)