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| Sunday, 9 June 2002 |
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Govt. on track to achieve 20% utilisation of foreign aid by SUREKHA GALAGODA The higher utilisation of aid during the first six months of this year has given a greater assurance to the donor community that the country is determined to move ahead under the UNF regime. This was stated by Minister of Finance K.N. Choksy at a news conference held after the conclusion of the two-day Sri Lanka Development Forum last week. He said: "We hope to achieve a utilisation of at least 20 per cent by the end of the year. Last year, the utilisation of donor pledged aid was as low as 14.5 per cent. Since the UNF government came to power last year, we have taken corrective measures, resulting in a utilisation of 18 per cent for the first six months". The main criticisms levelled by the donors to Sri Lanka were inadequacy in implementation of donor-funded projects and the lack of communication between the civil society and the government, said the Minister. The development forum was attended by 80 delegates from 39 donor agencies who met for the first time in Sri Lanka. The forum was held to examine the development programmes prepared by the UNF government. It was not an aid pledging forum. That will take place in Paris in December. The forum held on June 5 and 6 had four sessions: Rehabilitation and relief, Macro-economic environment and structural reforms, Creating opportunities for growth and Investing in people and Pro-poor governance. The session on Rehabilitation and relief dealt with issues relating to rehabilitation of the North and East as well as developing other provinces while the Macro-economic environment and structural reforms session dealt with reforms in the financial sector, deregulation and refashioning of the Monetary Law, Banking Law as well as the exchange rates. He said: "By and large, the response from donor partners was good. They understood the strategy of the UNF government which was tabled as two documents - 'Growth and poverty reduction strategy' and 'Triple R policy'. The donors accepted the policies while pointing out certain areas that needed to be changed. Minister Choksy said: "I am happy that there was a general consensus among the donor countries as there was criticism against programmes tabled at previous forums by the previous regime". Deputy Minister of Finance and Minister of Rural Economy Bandula Gunawardena said that Sri Lanka is confident that the Development Aid Forum scheduled for December 2002 in Paris will pledge around US$ 700 million in aid. Vice President South Asia Region of the World Bank Mieko Nishimizu, who co-chaired the Sri Lanka Development Forum, has said in her closing remarks that, in her opinion, Sri Lanka stands at the crossroads of destiny; a destiny which lies in the hands of her people to make or break. She believes that people of Sri Lanka have the strength of purpose to face the challenges. To harness this strength, people need a visible leadership from their government and a group of leaders who work as a true team. "I will go home with a much better informed perspective and comfort that such a team is emerging in Sri Lanka. Therefore, with a greater sense of urgency, the government should keep moving faster in securing peace and implementing the reforms," she added. Ms Nishimizu in her closing remarks have also offered three lessons drawn from her worldwide experience at the World Bank. The lessons are being focused and expanding over time, setting delivery targets, monitoring and evaluating results constantly and communication. "I have been encouraging my staff at the World Bank to look for champions and leaders of change in our work. We engage with such people as our counterparts, facilitate their work and promote them with our corporate reputation, our global knowledge and if necessary, our financing. We also disengage consciously and explicitly when such leaders cease to exist," she stated. "It is my hope that we can work in this way, joining hands with all development partners for Sri Lanka. It is also my hope that such a team among all development partners would demonstrate through our collective actions, our united conviction that the changes we see are good and worthy of the people's support. As long as the process of change keeps moving forward, our assistance to nation-building of Sri Lanka can be much bigger than any amount of financing we can bring," assured Ms Nishimizu. |
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