Academics hail budget

Rasika Somaratne, Priyanka Kurugala and Ishara Mudugamuwa

Members of the academia and senior government officials yesterday said that the 2012 budget proposals have focused on the recovery process and the uplift of people’s living standards. They said this budget could best be described as a futuristic budget with a deep orientation for the country’s development.

Central Environment Authority chairman, Charitha Herath said it was very encouraging to note several proposals coming up in the government’s 2012 budget, aimed at properly managing the rural economy and further strengthening rural-centric development initiatives.

Through the ‘Divineguma’ and ‘Divineguma Enterprise Villages’, the government has put in place effective strategies to formalize the informal sectors in the rural sector, he added.

Citing the outcome of a recent study Herath pointed out that 61 per cent of the rural economy at present remained informal.

He was of the opinion that better management of the above sector could not only lead to improving the income earning capacities of the beneficiary families but could also contribute effectively to the growth of the country’s economy as a whole.

Herath noted that the government had taken steps to distribute the benefits arising from the budget proposals equally, among both public and private sectors.

He pointed out that while coming up with enhanced social welfare measures and salary increases for the public sector the government has also provided tax cuts and a number of other benefits to the private sector.

“Overall this is a budget which has taken aboard the needs of all the sectors” he added.

Professor of Kelaniya University’s Economic Department Prof Prema Podimenike said that the seventh budget of the UPFA government is clearly a development oriented.

The budget has come up with very important proposals to develop many sectors such as agricultural, industrial, cultural and health. These proposals will help develop the country in the future, she said. The budget also has included proposals to further develop the apparel sector which is one of the largest foreign revenue earning industries in the country, she said.

Dr. Ajith Dissanayake of University of Kelaniya said that the 2012 budget is a people friendly budget and there are no any political intervention behind it. After winning all the elections the government has a very big responsibility to consider all citizens of the country.

The government discussed with 1,500 persons representing government institutions, private sector employees, farmers, artistes, journalists and all types of groups in the country when the budget was prepared. This budget proposal was finalized after 56 rounds of such discussions.

The budget has also taken into consideration considering macro economic variables and investments. In this budget the government has tried to increase productions with the objective of enhancing employment opportunities.