President tells Commonwealth Business Forum:
‘Clarity of economic vision powered progress’
Dinesh WEERAWANSA in Perth, Australia
Sri Lanka’s success in economic progress and development during the
past six years was due to the consistency and clarity in its economy,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.
Delivering the keynote address at the Commonwealth Economic Forum in
this Western Australian capital yesterday on the sidelines of this
weekend’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, President
Rajapaksa said that the Mahinda Chinthana provided the much needed
guidance towards Sri Lanka’s economic progress.
“Sri Lanka has been successful during the past six years, because of
the consistency and clarity in our economy. Mahinda Chinthana, the
policy agenda of the government clearly spelt out our vision and the
programme of action that we needed to follow. We have acted quickly and
confidently, in keeping with our culture and the aspirations of our
people and faced challenges directly,” the President told the CBF
attended by business leaders from Commonwealth nations, including Sri
Lanka.
He said that Sri Lanka gave equal priority to the several
macro-fundamentals of its economy, including unprecedented investment in
infrastructure, resulting in substantial improvements in the recent
past.
“It is worthy of mentioning that Sri Lanka’s economic growth went up
from six percent to eight percent, unemployment was reduced from eight
percent to 4.3 percent inflation down from 28 percent to six percent,
debt to GDP levels down from 103 percent to 79 percent, budget deficits
down from over 10 percent to 6.8 percent, foreign reserve levels up from
one and a half months of imports to five and a half months of imports,
Global Competitiveness Index improving from 79th position to 52nd
position, doing Business Ranking improving from 102nd level to 89th
level,” he said. President Rajapaksa added that Sri Lanka’s
infrastructure development efforts are continuing without interruption
and the level of poverty has decreased from 22 percent to eight percent.
He said that political stability is being maintained in times of great
political chaos in the world.
“We believe one of the reasons that Sri Lanka has been able to
achieve these improvements was the clarity and confidence we provided to
our stakeholders. We implemented balanced policies that embraced all
vital aspects of the economy simultaneously,” he said.
“It is worth noting that these achievements were possible, in the
context of conditions of peace and stability which we attained in Sri
Lanka, after the eradication of terrorism. An end to terrorist violence
was absolutely essential to move the country forward ... along the path
of economic and social development,” he said.
President Rajapaksa also mentioned the steps Sri Lanka has taken in
its reconciliation and development after becoming the first country to
eradicate terrorism. “Our initiatives today are multi-pronged. The
spirit of inclusivity to which we are deeply committed, is the basis of
all our programmes of reconciliation. Resettlement of those displaced
during the humanitarian operation, re-integration of ex-combatants, a
political dialogue with representatives of all communities and
strengthening of electoral mechanisms, especially at the grass-root
level, are aspects of this process,” he said. The President pointed out
that the economy of the North and the East, previously affected due to
terrorism, is growing at a rate of 22 percent. “We await the submission
next month of the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission, a home grown institution which I appointed to help leave
behind us, the pain and anguish of the past and guide the nation towards
an era of peace and prosperity,” the President told the CBF.
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