Sri Lanka’s economy is projected to move to a higher growth path of around 7 % by 2020, said Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. He said that this is mostly due to the ongoing broader structural reforms and enhanced investor confidence.
Highlighting the recent economic developments and prospects the Minister said that currently Sri Lanka is growing below potential but prospects are improving.
“Our broad development strategy will focus on a three-pillared agenda which includes democratization, reconciliation and sustainable and equitable development resulting in employment generation that transmits the benefits of growth across the wider society. Sri Lanka’s growth model would be private sector driven with exports and FDI as key pillars, supported by technological advancement and innovation.
“We are also committed in our endeavor to improve human capital and skills, set up globally recognized regulatory mechanisms and investment practices, in addition to the improvement of physical infrastructure and create the best possible enabling environment for Sri Lanka to attract more businesses, trade and investment to become a higher income country. We have introduced three well thought-out frameworks to manage the country’s fiscal policy, monetary policy and foreign exchange operations to ensure sound macroeconomic policies.”
The Minister also said that State owned enterprises are also being reformed to ensure efficient management and strengthen financial viability. The government is keenly working on addressing significant regional growth and income disparities in the country through a well-focused development program. To achieve the desired objectives however, it is essential that more concessionary financial assistance through innovative financial tools and products from international financial institutions is available to develop infrastructure facilities of the lagging regions and also to provide basic needs, such as health, education and sanitary facilities.
“I strongly believe these are essential ingredients for development along with reconciliation,” he added.
0 comments: