By W.A. Wijewardena –
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
Sri Lanka’s new development tagline
Sri Lanka’s current development tagline has been to make it “The Emerging Wonder of Asia” as originally enunciated in Mahinda Chinthana: Vision for the Future and reaffirmed in both the Development Policy Framework of the Government issued in 2010 and the Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance and Planning for 2011 released in 2012.
To have a development tagline of this nature to mobilise the people for a common development cause is not uncommon in history. Immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the new Czar of Russia, had his “Commanding Heights” to the Proletariat in the New Economic Policy designed to take Russia out of deep depression. Similarly, during the height of the Great Depression of 1930s, the US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a “New Deal” under which the government attempted to finance the country out of depression through mega infrastructure projects. Such development taglines create a team-spirit among people, make everyone a development partner and provide the leaders of countries with necessary moral ground for action.
Free and open debates are a must
Thus, Sri Lanka’s current development tagline deserves everyone’s support. However, the vision underlying such development taglines and the strategies proposed should be discussed, debated and, if necessary, redesigned in open forums to make everyone understand their vision and accordingly make them participants in the development process. For instance, Lenin had to explain in full what he meant by Commanding Heights to his comrades who mattered in policy making in the Soviet Union at that time at the Fourth Congress of the Communist International in Petrograd in 1922. The Congress accepted it only after all the grey areas concerning the concept had been fully clarified through a very hot debate by members. As for Roosevelt, his New Deal was commented upon by economists in as far lands as the other side of the Atlantic such as Great Britain, notably by the 20th century’s most influential economist John Maynard Keynes who frequently corresponded with Roosevelt.
Emerging Wonder of Asia not understood by everybody
The writer had the occasion to put the question ‘what it means to be the Wonder of Asia?’ to undergraduates, postgraduate students, mid-level public servants and occasionally to senior public servants and to top entrepreneurs in the private sector during the last two years. The answers he got were vague replies and differed significantly from each other. None had a clear understanding of the meaning of that important vision now being pursued by the country.
It therefore appears that the vision underlying the Emerging Wonder of Asia is just known only to a few top policy makers of the country and all others have defined it according to their own thinking and aspirations in life. This state of affairs is marred by two defects. First, it becomes difficult to say for sure whether the country has actually become the Emerging Wonder of Asia since it has not been properly defined and therefore cannot be tested. Second, it does not make everyone a participant in the development process and thereby making them the owners of development, a consultative process that must be put in place in terms of today’s democratic economic governance principles.
Professor Indraratna’s Presidential address
In this background, Emeritus Economics Professor and Sri Lanka Economic Association’s incumbent President, A.D.V. De S. Indraratna has tried to help the country’s policy authorities by taking the vision of Emerging Wonder of Asia to a public forum. He did so in his Presidential address on the occasion of the Association’s Annual Sessions held in October 2011. When a president of an important professional association like the Sri Lanka Economic Association makes his views known in public, in any other country including the neighbouring India, it spontaneously becomes a hot topic for discussion, debate and even for dissenting. But on this occasion, his address had largely been ignored by professional economists, economic policy authorities and the media who matter for the country’s vision-making and the members of the public who would benefit from the realisation of such a vision.
The release of “Achieving Economic Goals in the Midst of Global Challenges”
Thus, the Sri Lanka Economic Association has now given a second chance for the country to debate his views by reproducing his address in a publication containing the papers presented at its Annual Sessions in 2011. This publication titled “Achieving Economic Goals in the Midst of Global Challenges” was released in Colombo before an audience of invited professional economists last Friday.
Since this is an issue deserving public debate and public comment, the writer thought it useful to critically assess Indraratna’s stand on making Sri Lanka the Emerging Wonder of Asia in the next few years. This will create an open forum for others to take the discussion forward and make the vision under reference a part of the bloodstream of the people of the country.
Indraratna’s address appears in the publication as an Overview of the title of the publication and therefore it serves as a gateway to the other papers that it contains.
Indraratna: Emerging Wonder of Asia is ‘doing better than other Asians’
He has asked the question “What is Sri Lanka’s national economic goal or goals?” and answered that it is nothing but making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia by developing it as a Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub. He has then noted that realising this goal is not easy because it has to be realised within such a short period of five years by 2016 amidst many adverse global challenges that may derail Sri Lanka’s planned action programme for same.
Since the Emerging Wonder of Asia has not been explained in Mahinda Chinthana or in any other subsequent policy document, policy analysts have been left in the dark to form their own view of the vision according to their reading of history and convictions. In his Presidential address, Indraratna has tried to give his explanation of Wonder of Asia based on the current action programme of the government as an attempt at doing better than the rest of Asia. Thereagain, according to him, Sri Lanka has two major challenges. One is to do better than the so called Asian Miracle countries which managed to uplift themselves to developed country status within a single generation. The second is the need for overshooting the growth performance of Asia’s new economic powerhouses, namely, China and India. This is not an easy feat, unless Sri Lanka appropriately integrates itself to the global economy and correctly identifies the challenges posed to it by the emerging global environment.
Indraratna: The essential macroeconomic ground conditions
Indraratna has identified several macroeconomic goals which Sri Lanka has to attain over the next five year period if it is to become the Emerging Wonder of Asia. They include a continuous economic growth of over 10 per cent per annum, reducing the annual inflation to a level of 3 per cent, maintaining the budget deficit at 3 per cent of GDP, converting the current account of the balance of payments to a positive balance, increasing the foreign reserves of the country to at least 6 months of imports, attaining a realistic exchange rate with no volatility and reducing the public debt below 50 per cent of GDP. These macroeconomic goals entail following severe austerity measures by the country and are contrary to the stimulus packages implemented by the country since independence to deliver prosperity to the nation. Since those stimulus packages had not worked to make the country a wonder and left it in a continuous state of underdevelopment, the needed policies today must be something else.
Indraratna: Make private sector the engine of growth
The macroeconomic policy goals identified by Indraratna will bring macroeconomic discipline to the country making the government a saver in society instead of being an unproductive mass consumer. In the writer’s view, this discipline is necessary but not sufficient to attain and sustain high economic growth. Thus, the required discipline has to be supplemented, according to Indraratna, by relying on a bigger volume of foreign direct investments on the one hand and enhancing productivity and making Sri Lanka’s exports competitive in the global markets on the other. Instead of relying on government sponsored economic growth, Indraratna has concurred that private sector should be made the engine of growth and it should undertake productive investments. The government on the other hand should be the provider of infrastructure, facilitator, moderator and mediator, the role which he has attributed to the government in his previous writings too. Sri Lanka is facing many challenges in its march toward the Emerging Wonder of Asia and Indraratna has concluded that those challenges could be overcome by the country by creating an enabling environment with good governance, discipline, honesty and patriotism on the part of both the rulers and the ruled.
Expanded government sector is a problem
It appears that what the government has been doing in the last two years has been in sharp opposite to Indraratna’s prescription as the head of the country’s only economic association. Instead of relying on the private sector, it has principally been a government sponsored and financed development programme. As a result, the government sector has expanded substantially from around less than 1 million public servants a few years ago to nearly 1.4 million public servants today. The rise of the public sector has caused a ballooning of the government’s consumption expenditure creating a big gap between its consumption and income known as the current account deficit or the revenue account deficit. Though the government has valiantly announced that it would keep that gap under control and eventually convert it to a surplus and use those savings for much needed capital investments, it appears to have been caught up in a vicious design of its own. Hence, it has always been a disappointed story of overshooting the deficit in the revenue account planned in the annual budgets. For instance, the budget for 2011 planned for a moderate deficit of Rs 54 billion but ended up with a deficit of Rs 72 billion. For 2012, it was just a negligible deficit of slightly less than Rs 2 billion. But the actual outcome in the first quarter of 2012, according to the data recently released, has been even higher than the total deficit for the whole of 2011 at Rs 107 billion.
Sri Lanka’s complacent deviations from the norms
The desired budget deficit, according to Indraratna, has been at about 3 per cent of GDP. But with an untamed revenue deficit and the need for government’s capital expenditure at about 7 per cent of GDP, this would really be a dream which is difficult to come true in the immediate future unless there is a massive contraction in the government. The consequences are much worse for the other macroeconomic targets prescribed by Indraratna. The rising gap in the overall budget will require the government to increase its borrowings in absolute terms both from within Sri Lanka and from abroad. It creates problems for the country’s public debt levels: Indraratna prescribes that it should be reduced to 50 per cent of GDP, but that target will again be a dream difficult to make come true with ever-increasing demand for borrowing by the government. Then, the expanded government sector has implications on inflation, exchange rate and finally the country’s foreign reserve levels.
High government expenditure leaks out as high imports
With the increased consumption expenditure of the government, people will get new money into their hands but with no equivalent increase in productivity in government services, it would not raise the output to match the demand. The result is more imports and a bigger demand for domestic goods. Imports will increase the country’s current account deficit further exerting pressure for the exchange rate to depreciate. This is also in sharp opposite to Indraratna’s prescription, namely, converting the current account of the balance of payments to a surplus and eliminating the volatility in the exchange rate. To arrest the decline in foreign reserves, it now requires the government to borrow more from foreign sources, thereby reactivating the vicious cycle it had already created but now at a much bigger level.
The rising domestic inflationary pressures
The increase in the domestic demand with no corresponding increase in the domestic output will create pressure for the prices to rise, thereby generating a new wave of inflationary pressures in the economy. This will require the Central Bank to tighten monetary policy by way higher interest rates and credit squeezes. Both will affect the private sector investments adversely thereby further dampening the prospect for Sri Lanka to attain and sustain high economic growth. The current developments in Sri Lanka are exactly in accordance with these predictions.
Ground conditions leading to a ‘devil’s alternative’
As at end of June, the point to point increase in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index has accelerated to 9.3 per cent up from 7 per cent a month earlier and 6.1 per cent two months ago. The main culprit has been the undue increase in food prices because the demand for food items has been far in excess of their supply. There is growing pressure in the foreign exchange market for the rupee to further depreciate and the Central Bank has resorted to micro level management of the exchange rate which is not effective and will add to the existing shortage in foreign exchange in the market. The result would be that sooner or later, the Bank would be forced to release its foreign reserves to keep the exchange rate at the current levels. But that will reduce the money in the banking system because the banks are now required to exchange rupees they have for dollars being released by the Central Bank. The resultant rupee shortage in the banking system will have further pressure for interest rates to rise; to prevent that the Central Bank will have to pump more rupees to the market and that will have further adverse effects on inflation.
This is exactly like the devil’s alternative suggested by the novelist Frederick Forsyth in his novel by the same title. In a devil’s alternative, whatever one does, his situation becomes worse because he, instead of doing the right thing, does a series of wrong things which the devil loves.
The needs of the day
What are the right things which Sri Lanka should do now? There are many: Reappraise the country’s development strategies in the light of the suggestions made by independent economists, reduce the size of the government, trust the private sector and the global economy, create the required environment for productive investments to take place, ensure Rule of Law, property rights, law and order, good governance, discipline and as suggested by Indraratna, patriotism at all levels.
These ground conditions are a must for Sri Lanka to make its dream of becoming the Emerging Wonder of Asia a reality.
(Writer is a former Deputy Governor – Central Bank of Sri Lanka and teaches Development Economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. This article first appeared in Daily FT – W.A. Wijewardena can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com )
Gara Yaka / July 3, 2012
Thanks for the analysis and the valuable suggestons. Clearly, Mr Wijewardena should take over the Central Bank from the criminal clown Nivard Cabraal!
mahinda rajaapkse is setting up an economic advisory committee of Cabraal-esque, grotesque cronies including the uneducated Minister of Economic Disaster – brother basil and his sycophantic secretary Lalith W! These are the puppets of the devil and the whole lot be be booted out!
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Panda / July 3, 2012
You are right, they need to be booted out for what they are doing to our country, but it is easier said than done. With over 200 family members, most unqualified, holding the top positions in this country, and the looting that goes on, one uncovered because of a drug addict breaking into a home, we, the Sri Lankan people have no chance of getting out of this nightmare. Nepotism, thuggery, intimidation, corruption, unsolved murders, silencing of the media, and incompetence rules in our banana republic.
The Sri Lankan people suffers.
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Don stanley / July 4, 2012
Sri Lanka is the debacle of Asia! It is a basket case and a laughing stock in the world given that 4 uneducated brothers called raja-passa some of who did not even complete secondary school, never mind their lack of tertiary education are running the country.
Rajapassa and his clownish goons SB and Bandulla are destroying the Higher Education system because he and his brothers never got the grades to enter the university!
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PresiDunce Bean / July 3, 2012
As long as this country is run by one family that thrives on nepotism, corruption, abductions and killings of political opponents, computer ‘Jilmart’elections, thuggery, intimidation and silencing of the media…Sri Lanka will meander along as “The Blunder of Asia,” A “Can’t Be Developed Country,” The “Sick man of Asia,” The “Asshole of the Sub Continent” and the “Next North Korea.”
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N.Wimaladasa / July 4, 2012
Dr Wijewaradana has come to the point where should our National economy go? Our present Gobilization of economy base on neo-liberal order.Its deepening worldwide social economy and politiacl crisis of world order.The very system bacome imblace and people suffering various forms inequlitites ever noor and cornor of Golbe.
Multial-national Corporation of MSC and few powerful of West,incuding USA and Japan acquiers large proation of globl wealth. The 80% of golble population in Developieng countries live has access to about 15% percent of world wealth.
Since 1990 this ECONOMY power blance has change ,now its goes to BRICS members countries, since after the second world WAR.System heading for become more multi-pola capitaist path of developement of Globalization.China Brezile India Russia and South Africa playing leading role in finicial and moneteratry policies, industrial producation, agricultural goods, market access and largest consumer markets and power houses has change radiaclly.
Economy power houses and World economy engine shifted to ASIAN awakening Giants.Out of 7 billion total world popuation India and China account 2.6 Billions people in the world.
But indeed same time debt poverty and inequlities grow wider than ever.
As economc crisis worsen.The neo-liberal ecomonic has begun to concern itself with what it regards as theory of developement.
But primarily deal with market forces only,on the side of stability of developing capitaist economy.Look at lopsided market force or privite invastment interaction it will be result of instability of ongoing capitalist path of developemnt.And deepining economice crisis in our countries.
Histrociallly capitalist path except Imperilism,Junker path of Germany and Anglo-Saxion path of Engilsh and Amricean Path of USA played vital role of rapid developmant of world capitalist economy.Its bring to highest stage of Capitaliam growth into imperiliasm.
System become golobalization,capital move freely since Bush the second came to power year 2000.
But Dr wijawardana refer to NEP of Lenin policy had been an introduce to Young Soviet Rupblice are in nature differant from West,but its used capitaist mode of produaction and certain realtionsip to used as tools to pace growth of economy.Of cause individal can play decisive role of economy deveopement had STATE sector has dual-track system,combining elements of both the industrial and commerical enterprise were given residul control.Which boots producation incentives.In short term new market economy operated even without a change STATE owenrship of ENTERPRISIE.The reform of economy is aim to boots and rapid growth of concern economy.That is what China did since 1978 when they began SOCIALIST MATKET ECONOMY.The developemnet of producative forces are most progressive theory of socialist market politice in China.
Dr Wjawaeadana,after Lenin’s policy was fail in Soviet Union to implement NEP ,but China re-route her into new path of Chinese developement. In fact we have to learn many lessons of past and ongoing growth of economic development of major countries,will be helpful us as guidance appaly our own economic re-vitiliztion national economy of Sri Lanka.We no longer can go on old path of depend path of capitalism.
We actulally need natioanlly suited reality of our foundation level of economy.Investment Trade and producation of economy need new RESARCH AND INNOVATION to seek positive path of developemnt of Sri Lanka
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Donald J Gnanakone / July 4, 2012
Dr, W might be a highly educated and qualified academic. But badly needs a quick refresher course on Asia. Sri Lanka to be considered a “Wonder” of this continent is nothing but a Joke, when there are so many other countries which needs consideration.
Singapore, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Qatar to mention a few. Sri Lanka can only compete with the bottom tier of the worst countries, despite the head start we had from the time of independence in 1948, the natural resources such as Tea, Rubber, Coconut, Cocoa, spices and Gems. Plenty of fresh water and rain fall, but still could not produce the hydro electric power promised, nor the water still running into the Indian ocean.
Despite being an Island, Sri Lanka does not even own any modern/big Tuna trawlers, shrimp trawlers, and still import canned fish, and dry fish. We allow the foreign trawlers to catch within our 200 mile economic zone and only get a measly handling fee, and a lot of corruption that goes on to little space to write.
What is so wonderful about Sri Lanka, other than sewing some “Jungies For Suthies”, and most of the raw materials are imported and the profits are taken by the foreigners in addition to the huge commissions and marketing fees. UNP allowed the foreigners to come and set up the garment factories giving so much of free infrastructure, land, and duty/tax concessions, but ignoring the existing garment exporters who struggled during the 1970-1977 foreign exchange crisis, but still survived. The foreigners benefited from Sri lanka’s quota to US and EU, and took the profits out for 30 years.
What is the new area of income and economy getting better, since 2009?
The writer talks about Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub.
Only Hub activity Sri Lanka has is the illegal human smuggling, and the gay capital of the world for pedophiles to visit Sri Lanka and even take permanent residency as Tourist, involved in child pornography, child prostitution and child trafficking. (All under 18 are children).
What Naval activity is he talking? There is no profit in inviting foreign navies to become a wonder of Asia.
If it is shipping, first and foremost the SLFP governments for the last 18 years have ruined the national shipping line and does not have a shipping line, despite the trained man power that was built up from 1968. The new airline that started from 1978, called Air Lanka built up a big fleet and experienced pilots, engineers, and other crew, most of whom have fled to the Middle East and Singapore for higher pay and working conditions. Politicians were appointed to run the airline last 18 years and they corrupt and inefficient, unlike Singapore Airlines and Emirates in Dubai, which are bot great hub cities. Dubai started very much after Colombo in the last 30 years, and Singapore became independent only in 1965. The bottom line is Sri Lanka does not have an airline, shipping line, proper repair facilities that they own (Colombo Dockyard is owned by the Japanese that was bought for a song from the GOSL), and even the port and airport haven’t kept up to modernization and world standards.
A visit to Changi and Dubai airports or their shipping ports would give one a good idea. Sitting in some ivory tower at the Central Bank or University, one can only hallucinate being the wonder of Asia.
After the war ended, the economy had every opportunity to improve in leaps and bounds. But how can they, when the MOD increased their budget by 25% and is at $2.2 Billion dollars, instead of reducing it by 50%, and be at 800-900 Million dollars or even much less. During full battle with the LTTE in 2001 the budget was at $600 million dollars.
Sri Lanka does not have that kind of money to waste on unproductive military. They also need to make sincere and genuine peace with the remaining Tamils, from 4 Million, which has been reduced to 2.7 Million. This includes the huge numbers in the up country, who do not say Boo to a Goose about their fundamental or human rights, and the rest in the Western Province.
Talking about wastage, the greatest wastage is the $4 Billion dollars being dumped into Hambantota district, most of it borrowed from China, but without any return, and added operating costs. When Sri Lanka has the best natural harbor with deep water berths, and Tsunami proof, much closer to India, GOSL for political and egoistic reasons waste the money in the South. We all know what type of labor force that would be available and what kind of productivity one can achieve in the South. That fact has been well established for centuries and the weather is also not kind towards the workers. I would not talk about IQ or education, but the housemaids from the South are doing a good job in the middle east. But that is no reason to build a brand new airport there, when they can easily land in Katunayake and take a CTB bus or special white van to travel on the new highway to reach home in 2 hours.
What energy hub are we talking about, when the CEB and CPC is bankrupt with heavy annual losses, discussing power cuts due to the rainfall being less this year, and private thermal power are very expensive. The Russian built Sapugaskande refinery is 40 years old and is inefficient and needs a replacement. GOSL has no money.
The country needs another new refinery in either Trincomalee or Hambantota and there are no investors even on a joint venture basis for Sri Lanka to be self sufficient with the refined fuel such as Kerosene, Petrol, Diesel, Fuel Oil, Aviation Fuel etc. How can Sri Lanka be talking of a energy hub?
Commercial trade… Sri Lanka needs to develop all it’s ports and airports which are much closer to India and the Bay of Bengal. It needs to win the good of India, especially Tamil Nadu Tamils and the South. It needs to win the good will of the Sipping lines and airlines. Most importantly the Tamil diaspora and South India which are lobbying, canvassing and working against Sri Lanka for boycott, trade and diplomatic sanction. Under the circumstances very little FDI and hub activity would take place. Foreigners do not like to trade with War Criminals or those accused of crimes against humanity.
Hambantota, despite the $3-4 Billion investment is the wrong place. Trincomallee is the idea FTZ, Sea Port, and International port if there is an expected limited success. Pallaly and KKS are so close to India, where different trades could be developed and 1 Million tons of KKS cement could be exported to India and else where if Sri Lanka cannot use it, though it is importing 2 million tons of cement via Colombo.
Fertilizer, van become a million ton trade via Trincomalee, just in re-exports but those able are not, and will not be willing to via Hambantoa. The biggest problem with Sri Lanka is bribery, corruption, cronyism, nepotism, family bandyism, leading to bad governance, mismanagement, wastage and misinformation. The Fish rots from the head. That is where Sri Lanka’s problem lies. The first family and the extended family.
Knowledge Hub. When the government actively destroyed schools and universities in the North and East, shut down other elsewhere on a regular basis, there cannot be a knowledge hub created. Over a million educated or potentially could have been educated have left the country and still dying to leave the country daily.
Only 9% of those qualified to enter universities enter them for higher education. Others are left high and dry. Instead of spending billions on the MOD and Hambantota, Sri Lanka should expand the current universities and build more. Especially those universities that were deliberately neglected for 30 years, in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. For 40 years there has been standardization or some form of discrimination where students who can do well are denied entry into universities. There lies the problem with the knowledge hub.
Build more universities in the South and educate them as well, without training 250,000 Sinhala youth to become murderers, rapist and tortuers as well as plunderers joining the military, para military and the Police. The underworld is full of the army deserters of 55,000, who have been trained to kill and even operate white vans. Now that violence is being let loose on the Sinhalese and Muslims as evidenced lately.
Without being self sufficient in Rice, Sugar, Fertilizer, Milk, Chicken, and Fish, energy we are talking of or dreaming of being a “Wonder of Asia, and a Hub Haven”.. It is time that we stop the madness of dreaming and become more realistic. Singapore and Dubai achieved success by maintaining good governance. Please respond to me, Dr. W if you disagree. Educate all of us in the practical sense and not theory!!!!!
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N.Wimaladasa / July 6, 2012
Dr Wijewaradana.. Dr Indartahana economy theory bacially approch of capitalist market economy of Sri lanka.Our economy problem,still in age of neo-colonal and pre -capitalist mode of produaction.National fundamental economy Growth is in not sound & instability and lack of self-generatioing of producation itself, will lead to stagnation.Dr Indararhana read market economy looking not forward but backward.This I call old-school of thought to leave solution market realions but NOT PRIORITY OF CAPITALIST PRODUCATION.
Since 1948 post-colonial economy of island we never try to achive reform of economy successful.The democray and developement lofty ideal,but we fail accomplished.But the problem is; what is capitalism?
We have to face the reality of underdevelopement and backwardness remains of semi-fedual featuers of suprstautrue and our capitalist order of economy.Without economy reform we cannot succeed political soverginity, terrorial intergrity, indepandeane of democarcy of our Island.
We treat for market realtion of economy of more than produce ,work hard, consumer less.austeritist mesures of tighten belts,save more,live withing your own means,blance persnoal budget,devalue natioanl currency,are vicious circle of market reltion recommdation to be overcome economic crisis.Are neo-colonial outdated solutaion for our economy ills.
These are one side or lopsided proposal of Nationl economy.Our crisis deepens,haven’t meet natioanl altanative policies overcome crisis of economy since last 64 years.
We made the grave mistake of neglecting the development of the natioal produaction in all fields inculding Industrail Agricultiral and Servicres indutries as whole.
The not all methods last several years, we had been used MAIN tools were not correct.The most important lessons we have learaned among a great many others,is that we must clear about what is capitalsm and how to apporch path of developement of Sri lanka.
Fundametal of every economy is develop of producation,its applicabial Sri Lanka TOO.We have to sercah fro advance science & techonology to an advance our backwared producation in island.Gradully imporve the Time work and Piece work double producation in every unite of Induarties and Agriculture. Unless we are developing producation and raising people’s living standated we cannot say taht we are building natioanl capitaism.On going golbilization and natioal economy,of our times have change and our economy task has CHANGE. our natioanl economy poincy is base on priviate and state of continue developent of devoluation of economy power.The reform of economy structure will be laed to politiacl democratizaion of political sturctures of Island.
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N.Wimaladasa / July 6, 2012
Dr Wijewaradana.In my last comment I forget added few lines of ongoing Globle finicial crisis.The age of Finance of European intergration of the postwar era major challnge in an increasing goloblization.
Europen was a single bloc,a single entity that great Europen power– UK,France,Geramny and Italy & Sapin no more longer power.USA is sole superpower.
But all rich economic sink deeper into debt after yet another wave of Euro finicial and banking stress and US hiring hesitancy,if lookback since 2008 leman brother shock almost, created finicial system paralysis. Rich nation of world big FOUR Cetrtal Banks now looks destined to add money PRINTING US $ 6 TRILLOIN DOLLAS since 2008.
The banks are:USA Federal Reserved,Eupropen Central Bank,Bank of Engald amf Bank of Japan.This amount Printing money is half of USA natioanl GDP.
This so-called easy- money policies of QE is endless money game,has unable to address ongoing econmic and finicial ills.
The Globle NEO-LIBERIAL refom has served as a mechanism for a drastic,enginering of redistribution of income and wealth in favour of the RICH NATION and thier rich monolpy class.
Large amount of IMF funds are pumping to bailout ex-great power of Europen nations.As developing economy as ours have look for NEW CAPITAL AND INVESTMANT MARKET IN EMRIGING NATIONS.Despite differances of social system amd model of developement of economy and political gaps in our region; as a Sri lankan have upside-down her, old model Path and turn into enterpreneur-orinted NEW PATH OF NATIOANL CAPITALISM.
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Donald J Gnanakone / July 9, 2012
“Wonder of Asia”???
Read this editorial from the Pro Govt. Newspaper-Island.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=news-section&page=news-section&code_title=55
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