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By Channa Kasturisinghe

Prudent economic management and putting an end to the war would enable Sri Lanka to achieve a five percent economic growth, Chairman, Mercantile Merchant Bank, Milinda Moragoda said.

He was addressing the Clients Appreciation Function of Mercantile Produce Brokers Ltd in Colombo on Friday.

Mr. Moragoda said the country's economic growth this year has reduced to one per cent compared to 4.3 per cent and 6 per cent growth rates in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

"If we can stop the war now, we could expect a two per cent growth in our economy. It is also important to improve the management of our economy to achieve the target," he said.

Mr. Moragoda said several countries including those of Asia are showing better economic growth than Sri Lanka despite various problems they are facing.

"For example, Bangladesh has achieved a 4.5 per cent economic growth and India a growth of 5.6 percent. China and Singapore have achieved seven per cent and five percent growth rates respectively.

"We should aim at making Sri Lanka the commercial hub of South Asia and achieve the same status of Dubai and Singapore," he said. There is no doubt that the people of our country have the potential to work towards achieving this target. Sri Lankans have excelled in many spheres and are holding important positions in international organisations such as the United Nations. Today we are the backbone of the Middle East's economy and our people bring substantial foreign remittances to the country," Mr. Moragoda said.

He said we could not blame any single political party for what has happened to our economy but the system under which they are operating.

"We missed quite a few opportunities in the past. In 1960 our per capita income was at US$ 152 and countries such as Korea and Thailand were at the same level. But, today Korea's per capita income has reached US $ 10,000 while we are still hovering around US $ 800. Countries such as Thailand and Indonesia are far ahead of us in terms of per capita income, he said.

There are no quick solutions to this problem. The Government and the private sector should work hand in hand as a team to develop the country. There should be a clear cut strategy for our future progress and we should look for new ways of solving our problems," Mr. Moragoda said.

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