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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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Private sector should be 'real engine of growth' by Surekha Galagoda The public service is undergoing a massive transformation but for the public sector to be active the private sector should drive it, said Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, speaking at a seminar organised by the Finance Ministry on the Budget 2005. The private sector in the country is not organised and is passive. Therefore it is time to change the role and be the real engine of growth Dr. Jayasundera said. Speaking on the introduction of the stamp duty in the Budget, he said that it was generating easy money and now it has come to the era of stamp duty as the property market is developing rapidly at present. He said that a new Inland Revenue (IR) Act will be presented in Parliament before March 31 next year, repealing the previous laws. The new law will be more user friendly. As policy makers we were reluctant to take bold decisions.Therefore we do not have backward linkages. It has resulted in a crisis at the Finance Ministry, Customs and Inland Revenue Department (IRD). As a solution to this problem we are encouraging the local raw material producers. At present 800,000 people are without jobs and therefore policies have to be revised to cater to the needs of the people. We are also looking at attracting quality technology driven investments to the country. Dr. Jayasundera said look at the budget in a broader perspective. The country is no longer projecting itself as a place of marketing cheap labour here or abroad and we are now projecting our country as a professional service provider. This will be further enhanced with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India at the end of the year which is an extension of the Indo Lanka Free Trade Agreement to include services as well. Corporate Affairs Director Nestle Cubby Wijetunge said that the main concentration of the Budget proposals has been on revenue. He said the main problem faced by our country is the lack of continuation while weak infrastructure is another problem. Therefore to reap the benefits develop the infrastructure and move away from the western province to the other provinces. Wijetunge said to track the implementation of the Budget closely. Partner Ernst & Young Duminda Hulangamuwa said that the incentives given to regionalise are welcome but these alone will not attract investors to the regions as developing infrastructure is critical to attract investors to the regions. He commended the far-reaching measures in the Budget with regard to reducing the time bar and honouring good tax payers. |
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