Prioritise stimulating local demand to spur growth: Unilever SL chief

Hajar Alafifi 

•  Points out need to change current consumer behaviour
•  Says what SL needs is for its consumers to buy back
•  Asserts island nation must work towards changing narrative from ‘land of crisis’ to ‘land of opportunities’

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam 

Sri Lanka needs to prioritise and focus on stimulating the local consumers, if the island nation is serious on achieving the aspired growth, the chief of multinational company Unilever said. 
Bringing in a different perspective on the efforts needed to revive the economy, Unilever Sri Lanka PLC Chairperson and Managing Director Hajar Alafifi pointed out that there is a need to change the current consumer behaviour, primarily by equipping the consumer with money, which would be pumped into the national economy. 
“I think the narrative has to be on shifting the economy to grow. Now who drives growth? It is the consumer that goes and buys, therefore making the factory work; that makes the supply chain work and making the investors come in. What we need is for the Sri Lankan consumers to buy back,” said Alafifi. 
The Unilever Sri Lanka head expressed her views while addressing a panel at the recently held Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2023, hosted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, in Colombo. 
Reiterating the need to stimulate affordability, she acknowledged that the drop in prices (from last year) and reduction of interest rates on credit cards would help consumers to start spending.
“When the wheel starts to get oiled again, though the fiscal policy percentage might be high, your cash is going to increase and that will give us a virtuous cycle of growth. 
So, I really wanted to come at it differently because I think P&L starts from the top, doesn’t start from the bottom. Everything starts with growth. And when we unlock that top, the bottom we follow,” said Alafifi. 
Furthermore, as Sri Lanka is now popularly known as the land of crisis, due to the turmoil the nation faced last year, as a result of the severe mismanagement of the economy under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Alafifi said the narrative that must be put out to the world is that it is a land of opportunity. 
Noting that certain macroeconomic indicators are bad, she said all is not doom, as Sri Lanka has done well in other indicators. 
“Let’s look at it as a land opportunity; actually the best time to invest in Sri Lanka is now. Because in 10 years, it is going to reap you a huge ROI,” she said, while suggesting Sri Lanka should look at Vietnam as an example.