10 December, 2024

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ABC Of AKD’s Plans To Handle The ‘Economy Stupid’

By W.A. Wijewardena –

Dr. W.A Wijewardena

Vision of AKD

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, known as AKD, outlined the plans of his Government to rescue the crisis-ridden and slow growing economy in delivering the President’s Address at the opening of the 10th Parliament last week[1]. In a short speech like this, one cannot give all the micro details of his plan. Hence, by outlining the main policy parameters, he treated his audience to the vision by which his Government is guided in the next five years to deliver prosperity to Sri Lankans. AKD’s forte lies in delivering speeches freely out of his mind instead of reading a prepared text. In his maiden speech at Parliament as the President of the Republic, he spoke for long 55 minutes occasionally looking at the sketch of his speech to pick only the key points. Otherwise, it was a free flow of his mind.

Steps of development policy management

In development policy designing and management, there are further steps to be taken by AKD Government. The vision should be converted to a plan, plan broken into projects, projects divided into programs, programs to be represented by implementation units. These units should be given targets with a timeframe. On the other side of implementation, there should be continuous monitoring, progress reviewing, and trouble shooting if there are impediments in the plan implementation. These two machineries should be put in place immediately and they should naturally be under AKD himself to provide the necessary authority and leadership for change management. Without this, the vision will be a talk only devoid of action.

Handling the economy stupid

James Carville, the political advisor to Bill Clinton is said to have coined in 1992 the phrase, ‘It is the Economy Stupid’, to belittle Clinton’s opposite, George HW Bush, on his ignorance of the ground realities in the ailing US economy[2]. The underlying connotation was that both the US economy and its chief economic manager were stupid. This soon became the Clinton campaign slogan, and it was successful in denying a second term for the incumbent President. AKD’s chief contender, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe or RW too tried to belittle his two main contenders on a similar ground. RW is reported to have publicly ridiculed AKD as well as Sajith Premadasa that neither one was experienced in running a crisis-hit economy unlike him. In his view, they both had run away from responsibility when the country needed a leader to bring order to the emerging anarchic state. In this context, RW maintained that only he stepped forward to take responsibility and only he had an experienced team to do so[3].

In the Parliamentary election campaign, RW asked the voters not to send inexperienced people to Parliament and reiterated that only his team has the necessary experience[4]. The results of both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections showed that RW had failed to convince the voters on this point, like the economy stupid slogan of the Clinton campaign. AKD, in his President’s address, disproved his critics. However, after the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, it is the economy stupid that is going to loom over Sri Lanka making it AKD’s biggest challenge.

Overvaluing pluses and ignoring minuses

Like any economic policy program, AKD’s program too has plus as well as minus points. With the unmatched super popularity which AKD has got from the people across the country today, it is natural for his fans to overvalue plus points and gloss over the shortcomings. Such analysis is guided by pure emotional affiliations, and it is injurious to both AKD and the country. The overassessment of his program will not give him an opportunity to correct himself. The country will suffer because of the unintended consequences of his policies. As a result, when, on a later date, the weaknesses are realised, it will be too late to reverse the policies and cut the long-term costs to the economy.

Such a fate served on the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he sought to convert the country’s agriculture to organic farming overnight. This daring and obviously destructive attempt was praised by those who were around Gotabaya and, as a result, neither he nor his policy advisors got an opportunity to stop it in time to avoid the long-term damage done to Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector. AKD should not fall into this trap just by listening to people who praise him.

Hence, this article will critically review AKD’s policy statement.

Value of the Rule of Law

AKD’s policy vision is based on inclusive development which solicits participation of citizens in all the regions, all ethnicities, all faiths, and all lingual groups. The mandate he has got is from all these diverse parties. But he admitted that there are citizens who have not voted for him, or the candidates fielded by his political alliance. AKD and his Government accept that for a vibrant democracy – a necessity for sustainable development, there should be a multiparty system. It requires the recognition and appreciation of diverse views. This is the foundation of society being promoted under his rule. But for people to participate in development activities, there should also be the observance of the Rule of Law.

AKD proudly announced that there should be no one who is above the law and all are under the law. In my view, this rule should be applied to the Executive President as well. A recent example of a President flouting this rule relates to RW who was found guilty by the Supreme Court for violating the Constitution by not holding the local government elections in time[5]. But RW, instead of observing the Rule of Law, defended his decision not to hold the local government elections implying that he would not obey the Supreme Court’s judgment[6]. This is a dangerous path for democratic inclusive development.

Hence, AKD should not permit anyone to ridicule judicial judgments under his rule. When this precedent is established, it will be observed by future generations as Sri Lanka’s moral and ethical foundation for societal development. It is an essential requirement for inclusive development.

An immoral legislature and destructive institutions

Connected to this is his ‘clean Sri Lanka’ program which has gone beyond the environmental aspects of cleaning. It calls for an attitudinal and behavioural change in Sri Lankan people, on one side, and changing the behaviour of Parliamentarians, on the other. In the past, especially during the previous RW regime, Parliament became a place which did not give the best example of behaviour, accountability, and moral ethics to Sri Lankan people. On one occasion, RW speaking in Parliament said that there was no local government election and therefore there was no question of postponing the elections[7]. When the Supreme Court ordered that the local government elections should be conducted in terms of the prevailing laws, a government party legislator proposed that privileges of Parliament have been breached by an interim order of the Supreme Court[8]. These are only two glaring instances of immoral and unethical behaviour.

These are clear cases of the non-observance of the accountability principle by legislators but there are many more. AKD stressed that Parliament cannot continue to act like this, and it should be brought under the supervision of the public eye. Regarding the behaviour of people, he said that the current ethos and norms should be changed to build a responsible society that appreciates each other. These are what economists call the defects in the institutional structure of the country. They have been branded as destructive institutions and they should necessarily be changed into inclusive institutions if Sri Lanka is to prevent itself from being a failed nation[9].

Danger of acceding to debt restructuring plan

AKD also justified, quite correctly, the decision of his Government to go along with the prevailing Extended Fund Facility or EFF from IMF and the associated debt restructuring program. He said that the depth of the economic issue facing Sri Lanka does not leave room for making even the slightest mistake by the Government. It will be fatal to the economic life. Hence, to bring order to the chaos-stricken economy and maintain the trust and confidence of the international community, the Government has decided to be within the parameters set by IMF. He said that the third review of EFF is under way and will be completed by 22 November.

This was done as expected[10]. Debt restructuring with bilateral creditors and commercial creditors, mainly the International Sovereign Bond or ISB holders, will be completed as agreed with them previously by end-December 2024. These are significant achievements with respect to IMF facility contrary to the suspicions of the critics of the AKD Government. However, the external debt restructuring without a significant haircut will leave a massive external sector gap of about $ 17 billion by 2027 as projected by IMF in May 2024 based on the estimated foreign inflows and outflow. It will simply pass the obligation onto the future generations.

To avoid another debt crisis and free the future generations of the likely burden falling on them, AKD Government should increase the net foreign inflows in 2025 and beyond through an improvement in the export of goods and services to about $ 45 billion by 2030 as targeted by the Export Development Board[11]. This is an ambitious target but should necessarily be attained.

Stabilising nominal economy through IMF help

Proceeding with IMF will help Sri Lanka to tackle the issues in the nominal side of the macroeconomy. That is made up of the inflation, exchange rate, balance of payments, and the government budget. But the development of the real side of the macroeconomy, that is, the production of goods and services, is outside this IMF program. The real sector development will allow Sri Lanka to deliver prosperity to people, improve their living standards, generate employment, and repay external debt by facilitating the earning of foreign exchange through the export of goods and services. For this, a separate plan is necessary. I have presented this case earlier in a separate article[12].

Immediate, short-term and medium-term development strategies

AKD has recognised this fact. He has proposed to take some immediate measures, known as picking low-hanging fruits, and initiating programs to create a turning point in Sri Lanka’s economy. As low-hanging fruits, he has identified five key areas. They are, information and communication technology or ICT, tourism, use of harbour services, agriculture, and fisheries. These five sectors will help Sri Lanka to increase the incomes of the people, generate employment, and promote consumption which is at a low ebb now. However, given the scale of the foreign funding needed to finance the external financing gap in the immediate future, all these five sectors will not help AKD to generate sufficient foreign exchange income to meet the requirements. They are also medium-term developments rather than quickly pickable fruits.

Over relying on tourism

Also, a sector like tourism, though AKD expects to increase the number to 4 million per annum generating a tourism income of $ 8 billion in the next 3-4 years, has two issues to be solved immediately. One is the limited carrying capacity with the available hotel, airport, and transport facilities. These represent investments to be achieved in the medium term rather than immediately. Hence, if Sri Lanka starts investing in these infrastructure facilities immediately, it can attain observable results only after about five years. The second is the low domestic value addition in the tourism sector.

To maintain tourists, Sri Lanka should import fuel to power their transportation and electricity generation, vehicles, and above all, foods and beverages. In addition, road and airport expansion also involve foreign exchange expenditure. In these circumstances, the domestic value addition will be only the profits of the hotels, salaries paid to local employees, and purchase of utilities from the domestic market. Hence, out of the $ 8 billion earned as gross income, the net domestic value addition is projected to be about $ 2-3 billion.

Quickly pickable ICT?

ICT sector also faces the problem of quick market access and lack of talented personnel. Market access can be achieved through comprehensive economic cooperation agreements with buyer countries on one side, and partnering with seller countries, on the other. In this case, renegotiating the abandoned Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement or ETCA with India should be done by AKD government as a matter of priority. Partnership with Indian ICT firms will provide quick market access to Sri Lankan ICT developers. However, a caveat in ICT sector is the advancements in artificial intelligence or AI which will take over many of the routine and programming jobs from human workers. Developed countries attempt at resolving this issue by evolving with AI[13]. Without an AI base, Sri Lanka cannot do this.

Turning points

As a turning point, AKD is planning to rely on the development of a digital economy to improve the efficiency and hence, the productivity, in the economy, and the introduction of new technology to Sri Lanka increase its value addition. These are worthwhile medium-term goals to be pursued by the country to make it a rich country in the long run. However, that alone will not help the country due to the scanty natural resource base in the country. Sri Lanka’s only available resource is the brain power of its people. This sector faces two issues which AKD has not recognised in his plan.

One is the fast ageing of the Sri Lanka’s population. According to the projections by Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific or ESCAP, Sri Lanka is fast ageing with a median age of 33 in 2025 rising to 40 by 2050[14]. This is a fast increase since 1960 when the median age stood at 18. With an ever-rising low number of young people, Sri Lanka is fast losing its demographic dividend. The second is the increased migration of the professionals in the country which has accelerated during the last three years. The loss of trained professionals is an impediment for Sri Lanka to attain a sustained economic growth. AKD should lay foundation for converting this brain drain to a brain gain.

A comprehensive policy statement needing quick action

Overall, AKD’s policy statement is comprehensive, well-designed, and quickly implementable. He has not gone for a long-term dream like converting Sri Lanka to rich country by 2048 as was done by RW. His dream was limited only to words without action. In contrast, AKD has tried to tackle immediate as well as medium-term issues. This represents a visionary dream. As argued above, this dream should be converted to an action plan which should be monitored continuously to ensure rapid progress and resolve issues.

Footnotes:

[1] An English translation is available at: https://pmd.gov.lk/news/the-full-speech-delivered-by-president-anura-kumara-dissanayake-at-the-inauguration-of-the-first-session-of-the-tenth-parliament/

[2] https://politicaldictionary.com/words/its-the-economy-stupid/

[3] https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Why-Ranil-is-so-Confident-of-Winning-the-Presidential-Election/172-291758

[4] https://economynext.com/sri-lankas-former-president-calls-for-experienced-members-to-be-sent-to-parliament-184036/

[5] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/sri-lanka-top-court-finds-president-wickremesinghe-guilty-of-unlawful-conduct-over-election-delay/articleshow/112716801.cms

[6] https://www.instagram.com/colombogazette/reel/C_Fq1EtOqaE/

[7] https://citizen.lk/article/watch-there-is-no-election-to-be-postponed-ranil-tells-parliament

[8] https://ceylontoday.lk/2023/03/08/dolawatte-raises-privileges-issue-over-court-order/

[9] This issue has been treated in detail here: https://www.ft.lk/columns/What-can-AKD-and-also-SP-and-RW-learn-from-Economics-Nobel-Laureates-in-2024/4-768187

[10] https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/11/23/pr24435-imf-team-reaches-staff-level-agreement-with-sri-lanka

[11] https://www.ft.lk/top-story/EDB-targets-45-b-export-revenue-by-2030-amid-economic-overhaul/26-769471#:~:text=EDB%20targets%20%24%2045%20b%20export%20revenue%20by%202030%20amid%20economic%20overhaul,-Thursday%2C%2021%20November&text=Sri%20Lanka%20has%20set%20its,within%20the%20next%20five%20years.

[12] https://www.ft.lk/columns/AKD-s-top-priority-should-be-to-appease-a-population-boiling-from-within/4-767000

[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIL5pVqFceA

[14] https://www.population-trends-asiapacific.org/data/LKA

*The writer, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com

Latest comments

  • 10
    3

    ABC Of AKD’s Plans To hHandle The ‘Economy Stupid’

    Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with 35 years in politics, emphasizes he’s not a “magic man” but assures the NPP will perform better than traditional parties. The NPP’s core promise is zero tolerance for corruption and a transparent governance model. AKD believes systemic changes, rather than quick fixes, are key to solving Sri Lanka’s issues. He has consistently criticized the entrenched corruption of traditional parties. The NPP aims to provide a fresh start, focusing on accountability and citizen-centric policies.

    • 2
      3

      It’s a “culture of impunity, stupid” since independence is the cause of instability and economic stagnation in Sri Lanka.
      What is needed for progress is a radical change in leadership. The answer is a new constitution with age limits and term limits to elected office to get rid of all the corruption and incompetent politicians who are responsible for the present state of affairs; basically to get rid of the “old rubbish”.

    • 5
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      “The NPP’s core promise is zero tolerance for corruption and a transparent governance model”.
      .
      On what basis 🤔 u are forced to think so? 🤔

  • 10
    4

    Author:
    “James Carville, the political advisor to Bill Clinton is said to have coined in 1992 the phrase, ‘It is the Economy Stupid’, to belittle Clinton’s opposite, George HW Bush, on his ignorance of the ground realities in the ailing US economy. The underlying connotation was that both the US economy and its chief economic manager were stupid.”

    Actually, Carville’s words “It is the economy, stupid” (with a comma between the two words) were directed at Clinton’s campaign workers as a message for them to focus on.

    It’s like the sentence “Keep it simple, stupid,” where “stupid” stands for “[you] stupid [person].” Grammatically, “stupid” here is said to be in the vocative case (the case of address).

    Carville did not intend “stupid” to describe the then U.S. economy or any person, as this author wrongly understands.

    • 6
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      Further to my above comment, by way of an illustration in the Sr Lankan context, prior to the elections an NPP campaign manager could have told the campaign workers, “It’s the corruption, stupid,” where he felt that they were focusing on unimportant issues and wanted them to bring their focus back to the central plank of the NPP platform. In not focusing on the important, election-winning issue, they were being “stupid” persons.

      • 4
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        Mr Jayawardena I agree with you here. This Dr Wijewardena may have some knowledge of economics ( there are millions with this kind of knowledge in the world), but his grasp of other subjects is doubtful , particularly English, through which he reads on all subjects.

        Some time back he wrote that Yuval Harari in his blockbuster book Sapiens says early humans ‘gossiped’, in other words communicated useful trivia. Wijewardena did not understand the full meaning of what Harari was attempting to convey. A typical Sri Lankan graduate, not quite there

    • 22
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      “AKD proudly announced that there should be no one who is above the law and all are under the law”
      Well, lots of people have been summoned to the CID, purely out of investigative zeal, not political motives, of course. Let us hope Wasantha Samarasingha too is soon summoned by the same CID.
      https://www.sundaytimes.lk/241124/news/wasantha-samarasinghe-case-deputy-minister-and-union-leader-yet-to-respond-to-police-578852.html

      • 15
        1

        Hello OC,
        According to the number of “Thumbs Down” Icons (22), there is nothing wrong with a bit of Fraud. Usually if you are wrongly accused of a Crime then you will be happy to present your Case/Alibi.
        Best regards

        • 21
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          LS,
          I suspect that the one who talks about insider trading etc. is now deploying his thumb machine as a Weapon of Mass Deception. How childish. Rather like the borrowed military feathers. Even Nathan and Cicero have been hit. Some geniuses must be losing a lot of sleep.
          But it appears there is a catfight going on over the high-IQ comments down below. Very strange.

          • 16
            21

            I suspect those who can’t afford chicken won’t have much success playing proxy with an 8 MBPS Dialog connection.

            https://www.reddit.com/r/srilanka/comments/p8hedw/dialogs_8mbps_unlimited_connection_is_actually/?chainedPosts=t3_nnf3f1

            It’s like some relic from the Stone Age. Might as well go back to dial-up.

          • 12
            17

            I say Scott of infinite knowledge and OC the final word, Do you guys happen to know Lycamobile boss Sudaskaran, Radu Raja ( MR buddy)or the esteemed Singapore citizen Mahendran ?

            May be you are even related to them ?

            Sorry if the caste is different. I sense that Mahendran may be related to OC and Radu Raja to Scotty boy !

            • 9
              4

              Hello Deepthi,
              Aside from Mudiyanselage, Liyanage and Wejatunge Families I have no other relatives here in Sri Lanka that I know the names of. I don’t know Radu Raja either sorry.
              Best regards

              • 4
                4

                LS and other logical thinkers,
                In our motherland, since 2005, the godfather of big crimes, Mahinda Rajapakshe was seen closely with Rajuraja or Juliempitiya Amaraya or similar big criminals. May be Rajuraja might have visited Deepthi in UK. May I ask @DS to spill the beans… ?
                .
                And most of all the main stream media mafia is run by Rajapaksa supporters and hypocrites in our island. So, the people would not be fed with truths. Like you drive on a roundabout, it goes in circles. People remain eternally stupid and become stupid-voters such as “Sinhala_Man nature”.
                or others become DTG or the like parrots that have sold out their brain cells/soul to unknown gods.
                .
                Deepthi or the like world champions of stupidity have supported all the evils since then. ONly DIFFERENCE was that Deepthi continued while working for Buckimham palace AND struggle yet today not being able to maintain her ego.
                .
                These stupid men and women are equally complicit in turning srilanka a hell as of today.

                Therefore, there is no big difference between the thoughts of Deepthi and Rajapaksa or AKD supporters.

                Why am I emphasizing this because those who voted for Gotabaya gave the biggest mandate to AKD two months ago. Period.

              • 3
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                Scotty I would love to meet your relative ‘Wejatunga’ ! Has he got three legs ?

                • 4
                  4

                  Hello Deepthi,
                  My spelling may not be correct, but when converting Sinhala to a Transliteration it will depend on your interpretation. Try converting the Scottish Loch to Sinhala, or the Welsh Llanfyllin. If you can pronounce the Welsh Town correctly (I can) then you are not Sri Lankan anymore. Drink a few more glasses of “Wodka” and it becomes easier.
                  Best regards

            • 8
              6

              I say Deepthi of infinite stupidity,
              Do you happen to know the richest man in Sri Lanka? He is a Sinhalese, and he started off with gambling machines which relieved poor workers of their salaries. Now he runs big gambling dens with foreign prostitutes included. Do you know his name?
              You would have voted for him if he hadn’t withdrawn.

              • 8
                5

                I say Deepthi of one-sided stupidity,
                Since you go on yakking about Tamils, have you heard this?
                “Ananda Krishnan, one of Malaysia’s most prominent billionaires, passed away peacefully on Thursday” This guy was of Jaffna origin, and the owner of Maxxis Telecom, which in turn owns Dialog. How come he was so successful, while you have to sit in London scratching yourself to keep warm? How many telecom companies do YOU own? Or at least How many mobile phones do you have?

                • 6
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                  Sorry, it should be ” while you and Lester sit in London scratching each other for warmth”.

                • 5
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                  Codger you are so Sri Lankan of Ranil mode ! This Krishnan guy also had Thai Royal blood in him. That Thai Capital money made him rich.

                  You go on citing various Tamil money stories ( your definition of success-I don’t agree, success is not always money , that is very crude) as if by imaginary association it reflects on your skills and personality !

                  This is like the silly Sinhalese thinking they have something to do with the agrarian civilisation that existed in Ceylon Centuries ago.

                  If you understand Buddhism , every atom has changed a billion times since then. It is a very different people believing in a fiction called continuity.

                  We only decide to adopt a label, we are not Sinhala or Tamil

              • 6
                5

                OC,
                .
                It is clear that Deepthi cannot live without you.

                She has always been running after you like a faithful pet. We have become fun fans of the drama.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtbP_0_kId0
                What is really wrong with her? Loneliness?
                She has no life except looking down on everyone. Is she from a Sri Lankan aristocratic family (or her parents worked for them?)?

                If she gives me her DNA, I can get my geneticists and DNA experts to help me uncover her origins.
                .
                One of my nice wealthy German neighbors would like to get to know her. He used to work for the German Foreign Ministry. Would she agree? If that would work out, I can continue my charity work in srilanka further- LOL

              • 5
                6

                Codger you repeatedly ask this question as if voting for Dammika Perera or Mahinda R. was a crime and that all should have voted for that rascal conman Ranil who you support because he allows minority sleaze bags access and opportunities.

                If gambling is a crime why did not Ranil put Dammika in Jail ? Same question regards to MR, if he was bad why did Ranil become President with MR support ?

                As long as it suits Ranil( and OC !), anything is OK ?

                • 5
                  3

                  DDS virus aka Deepthi,
                  “If gambling is a crime why did not Ranil put Dammika in Jail ?”

                  Please allow us to clear your confused mindset, as we do the same with our elderly patients (enrolled in our research projects) when they are confused. Some of us, we detect that you immediately need to clear doubts. I have no doubt, it will help you in the future. Patients suffering from “selected and voluntary dementia” show symptoms of this nature.

                  The 2.5 years of Presidency of Hon. RW was formed as a CARETAKER government owing to save the nation since July 2022. To that time, the nation had reached to a precipice of edge regarding country’s economy. World organisations branded srilanka as ” default bankrupted state”. It deemed necessary to go for austerity measures as was the case with Greece 13 years ago. This situation was deliberately created by SLPP (pohottuwa, filled with rascals) supporters and RAJAPAKSHES putting their “public masturbation” above the nation.
                  Rascals and igonorants dominated srilanka was driven to a dangerous state by July 2022.
                  Tbd

                  • 4
                    2

                    cont.
                    .
                    There Mr. RW had no choice but to work with every possible source (even one-time rascals and high criminals) to achieve his goal – namely to save the nation from a severe economic collapse.
                    The situation is much the same as that of a terminally ill patient already confined to an INTENTIVE treatment unit

                    Did Mr. RW do that job by hook or by crook?
                    -Yes he did. The world and 2.3 million Sri Lankans recognized his achievements for the nation, but 6.8 million Sri Lankans did not. One in three (little more) stood against his IMF-led austerity program.

                    However, thanks to him and his small cabinet (Kanchana, Harin, Manusha, Senasinghe, Siyambalapitiya and a few others), the resentment of the nation was no longer there. The weeks-long queues disappeared. Fuel and cooking gas consumption was normalized. However, taxes have been increased to meet the state revenue levels to fund the nation.
                    Above all, a growth of 4.4% was achieved by Sep 2024. The forex reserves increased to US$6 billion, so that the country would never again easily fall to the previous dangerous levels. AKD was handed over a government in good shape. However, the government which was forced to shape up by Mr WICRAMASINGHE was a minus economy… remember ? DOllar value had been depriciated upto 370 rps.
                    No need to be biased, thanks to Mr. RW we did not turn into a “Somalia” or a “Tahiti”. But the ungrateful nation defeated him. In fact, it was not he who lost but the island nation

                    Tbd

            • 10
              4

              deepti the desperate

              “Lycamobile boss Sudaskaran”

              Lycamobile boss is Subaskaran Allirajah.

            • 7
              3

              “Do you guys happen to know Lycamobile boss Sudaskaran, Radu Raja ( MR buddy)or the esteemed Singapore citizen Mahendran ?May be you are even related to them ?Sorry if the caste is different. I sense that Mahendran may be related to OC and Radu Raja to Scotty boy !”

              Deepthi Aunty seems to have a hard time digesting the truth. I could help her with some medicine, if she really intend to a combined therapy. We are engaged with drug design over the decades.

              When will she or such sick people learn it? She did not answer our question about why the Singapore state is silent on the extradition of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. Has D.S.’s shameless gene been suppressed?

              Btw, my English friends in your age group are enjoying their retirement, but you are hanging on to your Rajapaksa buddies?

              What is really wrong with you?

              As for me, srilanka is a hell filled with stupid people. They committed “harakiri” again.

              Latest: under the link—>>>>>

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVT-L9BYp_E

            • 5
              8

              naughty, naughty Scotty,OC, LM & gang, while I am at tea your thumbs have been very busy !

              If you guys go on like this we will have to restrict you to your culture only, no more English forums, No Clint Eastwood movies and no more imagining about pub crawls for OC

              • 8
                3

                Hello Deepthi.
                The first and last Clint Eastwood film that I watched was Dirty Harry. One of my American Colleagues had a Colt 45 and a 44 Magnum (Smith & Wesson). I don’t like Guns and think that Civilian ownership of them should be banned. My Father (fired many weapons during his National Service) instilled in us the reality of how dangerous they were. I felt the weight of these guns and was impressed by their Craftsmanship. These are designed to kill and are only accurate at very short range. Whilst I was in Oklahoma an unfortunate Plumber was killed by the Police whilst running back to his Truck due to the Rain. There had been a local robbery and he fitted the description (the Police said after).
                Best regards

          • 9
            0

            … Even Nathan and Cicero have been hit.
            That is the least of my problems, old codger.
            Why deprive the poor souls of their pleasure!

            • 7
              2

              Nathan,
              .
              U may be right ✅️.
              DS’ only pastime activities are to fool 😒 CT commenters apart from upvoting to her own absurd comments. The kind of female retiees incl my cousin sisters are totally isolated in the west. Selberschuld !
              .

          • 4
            3

            Not a single commenter agrees with estranged duo [ DS and Lester] , nevertheless their thumb ups 😳🤣🤣🤣🤣 seen worked should be examined by CT admin. Miracles….?
            .
            I think, these beasts have nothing better to engage with. Alas, Sl genetics.
            .
            No wonder to remain life long ” single” ..with the attitude..?

            • 5
              1

              Hello Leelagemalli,
              I have never clicked the Red Thumb ever. By accident I clicked on a Green Thumb yesterday and it incremented by 1. Only then did I realise that it was my own comment (Honest mistake, honestly😢). Now can you tell me how this happened?
              Best regards

              • 2
                2

                LS, Please watch this video while sitting next to your dearest wife. She will explain every laugh to you because it is in Sinhala.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWWl6IohPss

                Now you will understand how stupid our people (most of them) are. By the way, Scot, I really enjoy reading from you. You recently commented on the level of poverty in some villages in Central and UVA provinces. Our own seniors do not have such dichotomies because they are often biased.
                .
                If it weren’t for your comments and those of OC, NV and SJ, I might have left this forum long ago.

                Getting a few likes on their own comments seems a little amusing. Deepthi and Lester are the masters of such pastimes. So pathetic.

            • 5
              4

              Leela I like you !

              What are you on , “ice” or ” ecstasy” ?

      • 6
        2

        “Let us hope Wasantha Samarasingha too is soon summoned by the same CID”.
        .
        I doubt 😕.
        .
        The size of exaggerations he made fooled the very nation again. Uganda Kumari confessed her mistakes a few weeks ago.

    • 7
      31

      Leonard Jayawardena,
      I am in agreement with you, for a change.
      A comma is a punctuation mark that separates words and ideas within a sentence.
      It was cleverly used by James Carville to make Bill Clinton win the US Presidency.

      • 5
        1

        Nathan
        The comma is used in the English language to separate words, phrases and clauses for various purposes. In the case of “It is the economy, stupid” it is used to indicate direct address.
        Here is another example with variations:
        1. “You are right to agree with me, Nathan.”
        2. “Nathan, you are right to agree with me.”
        3. “You are right, Nathan, to agree with me.”
        The only difference between the above sentences is the position of the word in the vocative (Nathan) and one or two commas are used as appropriate.

  • 6
    2

    “Over relying on tourism “
    Tourism brings the country the dollars needed to import many things from other countries. It is good to have as many as tourists to the country.
    We should not forget that a small group for whatever reason bombed only one day in Christian churches and hotels which completely affected the economy. Similarly Corona did the same. 30 year war did the same. It needs stability and peace. Are we doing enough to bring the peace and stability?

    • 5
      0

      Tourism is no substitute for national industrial production, which has been totally lost since 1978.

      • 6
        0

        Hello SJ,
        I fully agree with you. I had this argument with a very clever young Sri Lankan Teacher in Doha around the time Rajapakse was promoting the export of Millet etc. He was working as a labourer in the same Company as my wife, earning 3 or 4 times his Sri Lankan teaching Salary (with Accommodation and food provided). I asked him to look at the examples of South East Asian Countries that had Industrialised and now produced very high Quality Consumer Goods. He is still working there, but is now one of the Departmental Managers.
        Best regards

  • 5
    0

    “Like any economic policy program, AKD’s program too has plus as well as minus points. With the unmatched super popularity which AKD has got from the people across the country today, it is natural for his fans to overvalue plus points and gloss over the shortcomings. Such analysis is guided by pure emotional affiliations, and it is injurious to both AKD and the country.”
    A refreshing and accurate statement from Dr. Wijewardena. It is clear that AKD recognises the critical importance of the economy and has shown pragmatism in the transition period. However, no clear path in terms of economic priorities (short, mid and long-term) and a timeframe has emerged yet. As Dr. W. points out, benefits of low hanging fruit cannot be overestimated.
    Tourism, for example, needs to be sustainably developed. It involves rooms and transport but also access to water supply and waste management if numbers are to be exponentially increased. There are serious issues in terms of water scarcity, garbage disposal and pollution of the sea/waterways/beaches with plastics and sewage. It is easy to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, if tourism were to be pursued by merely increasing the number of arrivals.

    • 4
      0

      Hello Mani,
      I was about to copy the paragraph you copied and reposted. Remember, ADK’s speech is only one way communication. Even though it was a government statement, it was another political propaganda after the election. In the US that kind of speech, again, though they are only governmental statements, opposition parties get a chance to reply. As the author pointed out above, they may oppose or support, that is irrelevant, but the chance to reply is the important part. In the last budget speech, Republican Rep did not oppose the budget, instead took on different subjects to talk about.
      It took me one and a half days to write my comment on the full text thread that was here. But when I came out with my comment, CT had already pushed it to “History” pages. Anyway, it can’t be that much of an unnecessary topic; many might have wanted to tell a lot more about that.
      I searched the history and posted my comments.
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/full-speech-president-anura-kumara-dissanayakes-policy-statement/

      I saw there too, you were insisting that the words are the first step, but the deeds are the final step, which only counts.

      But soon, Sarath De Alwis and Dr. Vipula Wanigasekera, soon, followed. That is the ups of a good media. Readers get more than once a chance to express their opinion.

      • 2
        0

        Mallaiyuran, yes, glad you noticed. I was making that point in the post that seems to have disappeared. AKD needs to now go beyond:
        “It’s only words, and words are all I have
        To take your heart away.”

  • 14
    0

    “KISS, an acronym for “Keep it simple, stupid!”, is a design principle first noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960.[1][2] First seen partly in American English by at least 1938, KISS implies that simplicity should be a design goal. The phrase has been associated with aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson.” —- Wiki

    “What is an example of the KISS principle? An excellent example of the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is the design of Apple products. Apple emphasizes simplicity and user-friendly interfaces, allowing users of any level to operate their products with ease.” — The Interaction Design Foundation


    For people involved in an election campaign, the campaign manager sends out talking points every morning telling them what to focus their message on. ….. “It is the economy, stupid” meant, disregard all other issues and keep the message focused mostly on the economy: how bad it is.

    • 9
      0

      Hello Nimal,
      I heard the phrase (KISS) applied by our Senior Network Architects back in the late 90s. The existing Network (Inland Revenue and British Telecom) had grown over the years and was a hodgepodge of Co-axial, Cat3, Serial RS-232 and oversized outdated Routers and Switches, There was an existing Fibre Backbone but no Internet connections. Many Buildings had to have a complete replacement of their Structured Cabling. It is a pity that the KISS advice was not followed in the past.
      Two points on Apple. I designed and installed a number of nearly Identical Networks (simple ones) for small Printing/Publishing Companies in our area. I was asked to incorporate their Desk Top Publishing Apple Macs into our Network. Their Apple Supplier said it could be done using Appletalk to Ethernet Adapters. They never got them to work and the Apple Suppliers Suggested buying new Macs. http://www.atpm.com/network/setup/localtalk_ethernet.htm
      The other issue that I was involved with was in Qatar. My Manager’s Apple (personal not Company) had a Hard Disk included in the Monitor Case which had failed. It was just an off the shelf SATA disk. He admitted that this was his 4th or 5th replacement.
      Best regards

    • 10
      9

      nimal fernando

      Did anyone tell you AKD was born on 24th November and your hero Velupillai Prabaharan was born on 26th November (today).

      It is customary Maveerar Thinam (மாவீரர் தினம் Heroes’ Day) is celebrated from 21st of November to 27th of November. Have Tamils been forced to celebrate Prabaharan’s birthday for one week each year?

      Why Prabaharan’s birthday is so important?

      Will AKD ask his followers, party members, ………….. to celebrate his birthday from 13th November to 24th November? After sometimes he will be tempted, …………
      What do you say?

      • 10
        0

        “Did anyone tell you AKD was born on 24th November and your hero Velupillai Prabaharan was born on 26th November (today).”

        Native,

        Did anyone tell you I was born on the 7th of November? …… Too bad, all good people are born in November!

        I’ve a wild aunt who opens the month, born on the 1st of November ……. makes Prabakaran look like a choir boy.

        • 3
          1

          nimal fernando

          “Too bad, all good people are born in November!”

          Mahinda Rajapaksa too was born in November, that is 18th November 1945.
          He loved Velu Prabaharan, you too love him.

        • 2
          2

          Dear nimal,
          .
          There are seven in our family (one brother died at age 4, so I’ve forgotten all details relevant to him), and the first five were all born in November. I was on the 6th; I didn’t realise until 1985, that my first cousin was born🚴 just one day earlier; same year. And I got sick of hearing that Charles III was born a few days earlier.
          .
          My father had nothing to do with his brother, so my mother little realised that this cousin of mine (retired as a Professor of Agriculture – Inland Fisheries) was just one day older than me. More significant is the year: 1948.
          .
          And where does this take us?
          .
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy
          .
          Average period of gestation: 280 days. I made a count, taking account even of the leap year. I got to February, the coldest period in the Northern Hemisphere, where we belong. You do the calculating! The two brothers may have decided, independently of each other, to celebrate the lowering of the Union Jack. If that were the case, my cousin may have arrived two days earlier, and I may have arrived a day earlier than 280❗️
          .
          As for the birth of Charles (11th): Elizabeth may not have been conscious of Ceylon being given Independence on the 4th of February.
          .
          Panini Edirisinhe

          • 1
            3

            This is where AKD was born:
            .
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQB7iLSqg-Q – 11 minutes
            .
            It’s been done for Tamil people, but of course the villagers speak Sinhala, and it gives us a clear idea of the continuing poverty of the area, which must now be alleviated.
            .
            And which year was he born?
            .
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anura_Kumara_Dissanayake
            .
            1968. What was each of us doing at the time?

            • 5
              0

              SM,
              You disappoint me. I thought you were going to describe in minute detail what AKD’s parents were doing 280 days earlier.

              • 3
                1

                OC,
                .
                Right now, people are increasingly questioning the AKD’s expansion of their promises in the pre-election stages and their betrayal in the face of IMF recommendations.

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlk-f6NRRJg

                However, the most slanderous person who promoted AKD’s election is talking about “the size of AKD’s underwear and the number of holes in it”: How stupid can people be? Can we take SM as the scale of stupidity in recent srilanka ?
                .
                Oh my god, this nation will never see it right.
                .
                This person is said to have been a lecture assistant at one time (Source: Himself)

  • 58
    55

    ” That is made up of the inflation, exchange rate, balance of payments, and the government budget. But the development of the real side of the macroeconomy, that is, the production of goods and services, is outside this IMF program.”

    The macro and the micro are not mutually exclusive. IMF policies will obviously affect the macro outlook as well. AKD needs to reduce any dependence on India. Cut off all trade ties. Many of these “agreements” are simply scams. Adani, who financed the wind power project, was found guilty of bribery by a US court.

    “The indictment alleges Adani and his co-defendants agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian officials to obtain solar contracts worth an estimated $2 billion over 20 years. Adani is charged with foreign bribery, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.”

    Before that, you had Keheliya running a pharma racket with Indian help. Also, AKD should reopen the investigation into the bond scam and arrest Arjuna Mahendran & the son-in-law. This individual robbed the CB in broad daylight and allowed to roam free. Not exactly the best signal to foreign investors.

    • 53
      34

      *was allowed

  • 21
    55

    One impediment in the way of implementing a digital economy is the absence of knowledge of ENGLISH due to the misguided language policy adopted in Sri Lanka. We are paying the price for it now. The Sinhala leaders had their idiot children educated in international schools and foreign universities leaving the rural people to study in swabasha and in local universities. We produced graduates who do not have access to developments in science and other fields because of their lack of English. Narrow nationalism has denied our children the ability to acquire essential sk9ills and keep updating them. We have to pay the price of having people like the Rajapakses as our leaders. Hopefully, AKD will understand and remedy these defects of the past and ensure that a standard of English education is available to all children. True equality can be assured then.

    • 44
      19

      ” The Sinhala leaders had their idiot children educated in international schools and foreign universities”

      Didn’t your leader Prabhakaran do the same thing? The older son studied in Ireland. What about the Vellalar? Ran away to the West and left the lower classes to fight alone.

      • 16
        44

        “What about the Vellalar? Ran away to the West and left the lower classes to fight alone.”
        Didn’t some super-patriotic cowards run away too, in fear of kids with firecrackers, leaving the government-school educated to defuse the bombs? How is that different? At least the Vellalas don’t massage their egos bragging about their military relatives.

      • 10
        1

        In fairness to VP, do you seriosly think that his chldren would have survived school in this country?
        Woder what happened to his youngest child.

    • 5
      1

      Cicero,

      “We have to pay the price of having people like the Rajapakses as our leaders. Hopefully, AKD will understand and remedy these defects of the past and ensure that a standard of English education is available to all children. True equality can be assured then.”.
      .
      If u would closely the recent years of AKD, they always supported 🙄 Rajapakses ‘ rascal politics based on Sinhala Buddhist Racism.
      .
      So how can anyone expect 🤔 AKD to do correct things? 🤔

    • 1
      2

      Grand pa

      The days when English was the only language that you could do anything with is long gone.. may be they should start learning Hindi or Mandarin

      • 4
        0

        Baby Boy, you ask your Hindi Mama or your Mandarin Mama. They all want to run to the US or UK if they can.

      • 1
        1

        No, a14455,
        .
        English is more important
        than ever before. So is Mandarin, but NOT I feel Hindi. Even in India, there are those (especially in the South) who react against Hindi.
        .
        What has now become true is that there are no children anywhere in the world who are not taught English, and everybody knows at least the English alphabet.
        .
        Where we have erred in this country is in ridiculing those who makes mistakes in English. We must affirm the primacy of Sinhala and Tamil within this country; a person who knows one of those languages must, as far as possible, be allowed to live with dignity in the land of their birth.
        .
        However, I feel that I hardly know my two granddaughters. I will be meeting them in a fortnight. They know neither Sinhala nor Tamil; instead they have excellent English. It is difficult for me to assess their Mandarin or their Malay. Even Malay may be more important than Hindi, although I don’t expect universal agreement with that statement.
        .
        It is next to impossible to get everything right.

  • 20
    3

    Now AKD has more than expected “Heads” in its Government.

    If AKD keeps counting the “Heads” rather than “Turning” the heads, he will not achieve much. So it is abundantly clear that “Turning” heads matters most and it follows that “Leadership” matters most.

    Once Henry Ford was supposed to have said: ” If he’d given people what they wanted, he’d have settled on faster horses”. That is a lesson to learn.

    One more lesson for AKD comes from Harold Macmillan’s famous answer to the question, “What happened to some of your plans when you became Prime Minister” The answer was, “Events, dear Events”.

    Whatever the “Plans” (lucrative, beneficial, rewarding, and compensatory), the “Events” (political, economic, and social) keep changing, and it is the role of leadership to help people understand and interpret “events” as they come unexpectedly and make decisions that might at first seem implausible.

    If the above lessons are not learned and practiced as a Leader, whatever the “Plans”, AKD will be “Stupid”.

    • 3
      0

      Douglas and those who coughed for a real change@
      .
      The Prime Minister unanimously decided to hold the A/L exams despite weather warnings of stormy rains. Students and their families are in an unprecedented situation today.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5J9FmZAUUc

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4LBBf0PI8
      .
      The AKD is completely unaware of the spread of hatred and inaction in Northern Sri Lanka.
      .
      Despite the big talk on the pre-election stage, they are bowing their necks in front of the IMF delegation.

      Some say they have already cooked porridge – there is more to come in the first 3 months of their rule. Didn’t we predict that?

  • 9
    21

    DTG,
    I think you just need to read the definition of Antisemitism. Here below please find some info about the term.
    .
    Antisemitism refers to prejudice, discrimination, or hostility against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.
    It involves harmful stereotypes, hatred, and actions directed at Jewish individuals or communities. Historically, antisemitism has manifested in various forms, including social exclusion, discrimination, violence, and even genocide, most infamously during the Holocaust.

    Antisemitism can be both overt (such as hate speech or physical violence) and more subtle (like social or economic discrimination). The term is often used to describe both individual acts of bias and broader societal or political movements that target Jews.

    • 12
      13

      lm, what you have written here is totally unnecessary and is due to a misunderstanding on your part, showing your arrogance to be an unwanted teacher. Respond when asked.

      • 12
        1

        Arrogance? Unwanted tacher?
        So says a humble soul!

      • 4
        0

        David,
        .
        It was an attempt to save readers from distorted myths. It is not arrogant to save them. You should learn better to respect the truths of definitions and factual information.

  • 1
    4

    This government🤗 must be given a little time to get its act together. The very day after the new cabinet was announced, this reasonable article appeared on CT:
    .
    https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/i-wish-i-were-deaf-than-tamil/
    .
    The complaint there is that AKD had not delivered the speech all over again in Tamil.
    .
    This is the speech as it now appears on the NPP website:
    .
    https://www.npp.lk/video-gallery.php?p=1
    .
    Tamil subtitles have been provided.🤗 Not good enough. May be👎
    .
    And Dr WAW has given us the English translation:
    .
    https://pmd.gov.lk/news/the-full-speech-delivered-by-president-anura-kumara-dissanayake-at-the-inauguration-of-the-first-session-of-the-tenth-parliament/
    .
    It doesn’t open in the footnote. Let’s see if it does open in my link. One has to cut and paste from the provided link .
    .
    I agree that there isn’t enough Tamil; the problem is not with the government, but with Sinhala voters like me. I don’t know any Tamil. Forgive me. Why don’t Tamil readers now thank for small mercies⁉️🇱🇰
    .
    Report of the most recent cabinet meeting:
    .
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcITz1VxsL8
    .
    Panini🇱🇰

  • 1
    0

    The author has taken pains to dissect the policy statement of Prez AKD. One of the planks in which the author too has picked up from policy statement is ICT and the Digital Economy. He reminds in the reliance of Indian partnerships upon the sealing of ETCA. In the context of recent US prosecution of Indian tycoons for bribery one must be cautious of all the Adanis, Ambanis and Sambranis getting in here under the tunnel of ETCA only to be hauled in the US courts. The ground reality? The inordinate delays in getting On Time Passwords to the cell phone thus timing one out from logging in. This alone can cripple ICT cum Digital financial transactions. Even in the city of Colombo, there are locations in which there are no signals for performing some decent ICT activity. Not everyone can afford fiber connections, and some are heavily dependent on the wireless routers of mobile service providers. Alas! The signal strength is in the borderline resulting in frequent interruptions. A good number of people use the cellphone as a hooking mechanism to access the net. Their situation is dire. Fix first things first before talking of smart ID cards.

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