Spending on education, health has paid rich dividends - Treasury Secretary

Ruwanthi Abeyakoon

Sri Lanka has reached the highest level of human resources because of the large investment in education and health sectors, Secretary to the Treasury, Dr. P. B. Jayasundera said at the post budget seminar organised by the Inland Revenue Department yesterday.

“The recurrent expenditure is spent on providing free education. The literacy rate is far above than any other developing country. The Government also provides free health. The Government spends and is committed to

 spend much higher levels of expenditure on these sectors. This commitment cannot be seen in India, Pakistan and not even in China.

The Government also spends on irrigation, roads, water supply to rural areas, poverty alleviation,” he said.

He also said cutting down expenditure cannot be done by cutting down on the quality of education instead the quality should be increased. “Sri Lankan labour is in high demand. There is a big demand for nurses, medical practitioners, engineers and accountants.

The country does not receive remittances only through poorly paid workers but also from well paid, middle and high level labour. We are predicting over US $ 3 billion remittances next year. Spending on education is a solid investment for the future. So the Government cannot unduly compress such expenditure,” Jayasundera added.

He noted that the country is behind in substantial necessities. “There is no capacity to generate electricity. After 20 years of delay country is now witnessing the largest coal power plant and with the other projects, the power generation capacity will increase,” he said.

“Export is growing around 10 to 12 per cent and we are doubling the exports. This requires ports facilities. Three terminals will be built at the Colombo Port and US $ 300 million was invested on the breakwater facility. The road infrastructure, which is grossly outdated, will also be constructed together with the bridges in a much wider geographical location,” Jayasundera added.

He stressed that economy is on a high growth path. “Sri Lanka is no longer a poor country. It has turned into a growing middle-income country. We have sustained high per capita income of US $ 1500. By 2010 we will reach at least close to 20 per cent of revenue,” he explained.

“The country goes through transformation. Challenges have been tackled well. Large potentials are being created. The growth comes from several vibrant sectors and from skilled labour. High quality local manufacturing will be uplifted not only as an import substitution but also for export,” Jayasundera added.