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Harder work required to realise goals

As expected, the UNF Government's second budget has proved to be a more growth-oriented, long-term focussed, economic resuscitation plan. It is no "sunshine budget" because it was crafted amid severe financial constraints and rigours. Fortunately, Finance Minister K. N. Choksy in his refreshingly terse and appropriately business-like presentation, which saved on time, public expenditure and patience, was in a position to announce a degree of economic recovery. That is, at the end of year 2002, the national economy has registered a modest but steady three percent growth rate in comparison to the abysmal negative growth at the end of last year.

In comparison to a dream budget which would have contained proposals for a drastic reduction in living costs, this budget focusses on initiatives which could have a long-term, positive, cumulative impact on the lives of the people. There is, for instance, the proposal to offer housing loans through Government institutions, to those households which earn an income of between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 15,000. While this would provide for economical house building, the proposal would also spur construction activity in particularly the rural areas, which would, in turn, generate a range of job opportunities.

There is also the proposal to establish an Agro Enterprise Development Fund, which has the potential to be of great assistance to small and medium scale farmers. Among other things, this body would assist farmers in improving their agricultural practices, introduce new crops and technologies and assist in the maintenance of village tanks.

Equally encouraging is the move to set up a special fund for the purpose of fostering women's development. This would prove beneficial to rural women in particular, who would now be in a better position to exercise their entrepreneurial skills and usher in a greater degree of economic independence - a crucial factor in women's empowerment.

These and many more initiatives, as is usually the case, look fine on paper. The more vital part of practical implementation remains to be fulfilled. Here's where the rub is likely to be. As a forum of top businessmen, bankers and the like, conducted by our Business Desk at the Daily News on budget day revealed, the Government needs to ensure that policy goals in the budget proposals are aggressively pursued until the expected outcomes are reaped. Here's where we have been falling short. The public sector institutional machinery in particular, whose responsibility it is to facilitate the growth process, should be in fine fettle if dreams on paper are to be translated into reality.

This is where the politician comes in. It is also up to the Member of Parliament, whose funds have been increased to rupees five million in the latest budget, to ensure that the development process is activated with a high sense of urgency, It is the hope of the common people that the present divisive bickering among the main political parties would come to an end. What they yearn for is a fulfilled existence which could come about through their own hard work in collaboration with the MPs of the respective districts, whose duty it is to launch projects which would immediately benefit the public. Wasteful politicking would never be in the people's interest. Accordingly, we hope that all MPs would now get down to stabilising the development process. For, five million rupees is a mint of money for cash-strapped Sri Lanka.

The Government too needs to think of how best the peace dividend could be delivered. There is a perception that some decision-makers and ministers are not exerting themselves sufficiently to reap the benefits of the relatively peaceful atmosphere which has dawned. While we condemn the current round of aimless politicking which is generating some tensions, we wish to point out that it is only solid achievements on the development front which could prevent political hot-heads from exploiting deficiencies in governance.

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