WB seeks feedback for new CAS

Sri Lanka has everything for economic prosperity but the country has not exploited the real potential, World Bank (WB) Country Director Naoko Ishii told a meeting of journalists last week.

Sri Lanka has a good potential and despite a quarter century of civil conflict, GDP growth has averaged 4.9% during the period. The Western Province has proved this potential with sustained high growth and a lower poverty rate of 9%, less than half the national average.

If the rest of the country could emulate the Western Province’s performance Sri Lanka would eliminate extreme poverty in a generation, Ishii said.

The World Bank is in consultation with a wide spectrum of people and organisations to get inputs for the Country Assessment Strategy (CAS). The meeting was organised to get a feedback from journalists on development issues.

The Bank has also met the business community and various other groups in this process. The new CAS which will be finalised by the middle of this year is the framework for the Bank’s assistance in Sri Lanka for the next three years.

The WB noted that the new CAS is being prepared at a challenging time for Sri Lanka because the armed conflict has intensified and the macroeconomic situation worsened.

With the new CAS the WB will support Sri Lanka to achieve its development objectives of accelerating growth with job creation and containing inequalities to facilitate rapid poverty reduction.

It has consolidated 15 sectoral strategies in the 10- year vision around three strategic objectives; expanding economic opportunities in lagging regions improving competitiveness and the investment climate in the country and enhancing quality and accountability in service delivery.

The WB outlined the reasons that lead to stagnant growth in a large part of the country.

Agricultural productivity has been hampered by a skewed policy framework with a high focus on self-sufficiency in paddy production. Inadequate diffusion of technology and knowledge, increasing water scarcity and the human and wildlife conflict are the barriers for agricultural growth.

Off farm economic growth is hindered by poor infrastructure, particularly roads and electricity that limits mobility of the people and goods.

It prevents economic dynamism of the Western Province spill over to rest of the country. Poverty in the estate sector is endemic and has increased during the past decade. The conflict affected North and East face extraordinary challenges due to large infrastructure and comparatively low level of human development, the WB said.

The objectives of the WB’s governance efforts in Sri Lanka are to help to create accountable, transparent and responsive institutions that are able to design and implement sound policies, provide public services and establish and enforce appropriate regulatory frameworks.

In pursuing these objectives the WB will align its governance work in three dimensions; strengthening core governance institutions, improve sectoral governance where the Bank is involved and minimising fiduciary and governance risks in Bank operations.

The Bank would also seek to further increase the demand for good governance in its new CAS. GW