Mahinda Chinthana economic policy :

Saves Sri Lanka

Chaminda Perera

*Unemployment reduced under UPFA

*Britain, France accept State sector

The Sri Lankan economy would have been badly affected if UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was in power, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

“The world has today rejected neo-liberal economic policies and citizens in the United States too are being educated to buy their own products,” he said.

The Regaining Sri Lanka introduced by the UNP would have plunged the country into bankruptcy if people had allowed the UNF Government to stay in power, the Minister said.

The Minister said the public averted the division of the country by taking a right decision at the Presidential Election in 2005. United States under its new President Barak Obama, France and Britain have accepted the Mahinda Chinthana Policy framework which is aimed at strengthening local economy and industries.

Addressing a press briefing at the Mahaweli Centre in Colombo yesterday, the Minister said the Government fore saw the fate of the countries that had embraced the neo-liberal economic policies and formulated a set of economic principles that bolster the local production. “Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country which was not affected by the world financial crisis.

The UNP leader focused on the private sector and devised various subtle maneuvers to weaken the public sector. France and Britain accept that the State sector should be strengthened to ensure better economic development of the country,” he said.

Sri Lanka today generates more and more employment opportunities to the youth. The private sector and the Government initiate new ventures which provide more employment to the youth.

He said the unemployment rate of the country has drastically come down as a result of the Government’s vibrant economic management, he said.