All stakeholders should pull their act together: Central Bank Governor

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to South Africa Sunil De Silva (right) presenting the book to Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy. Pic by Nisal Baduge 

By Zahara Zuhair
In order to take benefit of the best set of circumstances Sri Lanka has ever had in the past 50 years, all stakeholders of the economy have to pull their act together, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy 
stressed recently. 
Speaking at the launch of ‘Credit Management’, a hand book for credit officers written by Sri Lankan High Commissioner to South Africa Sunil De Silva, Dr. Coomaraswamy noted that Sri Lanka needs to take full advantage of the various Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) that are in the pipeline for 
the country.
“For all theses to happen we have to get our act together, to enable conditions to implement it. These are good plans. The challenge is to implement them. First, we need to ask will this help our country and people, these are the conversations we need to have,” he said.

Noting that at the time of independence, Sri Lanka was only second to Japan in Asia in any socio-economic indicators—which have fallen recently due to many reasons including stop and go policies—Dr. Coomaraswamy said that the Central Bank will be creating a new roadmap and new frameworks for the country over the 
next month. 
Dr. Coomaraswamy had recently also mentioned that the government has set up 10 task forces to look at improving the investment indicators measured in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
Given Sri Lanka’s small population, he said that the country has to become export oriented through various FDIs such as the 15,000 acre industrial park that China is developing in Hambantota, and link them to Sri Lanka’s advantageous 
geographic location.
“We are located in Asia, and we are right in the middle of China’s maritime circle. We are just 20 miles away from India and in an excellent strategic location. But to take advantage of them, there is a great amount of work we need to do. We have to pull our act together to take advantage of this opportunity,” he added.
He noted that every country to develop in the post-World War II era have done so through export oriented FDIs.
While re-emphasising his neutral attitude towards private sector led development, he stressed that the private sector has to deliver growth in the set of circumstances Sri Lanka is currently surrounded with, particularly given the fiscal constraints that inhibit a public sector driven growth model.
However, he also noted that the government has to first construct a growth model. “That will give us growth for 7-8 percent for 10 years or more. That is what successful countries of East and South East Asia have done, but we have never been able to do that. We have had repeated cycles of policies. We need to break from them and have a strategy which will give us growth that will generate employment and higher income for a sustained period,” 
he said.
Dr. Coomaraswamy also stressed that the development process needs to ensure regional inclusiveness, with skills development and economic benefits spread across every region within the country.