New development model in the offing

By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The government will work towards accruing development dividends to all equally and will reverse negative growth in real terms by deploying a suitable development model.

“Our economy is not as rosy as the previous regime showed it to be. The data including the GDP growth figure and external reserves is not all accurate. The credibility issue has cast doubts on the performance figures given. Therefore, we need to analyse the ground situation and build from there,” Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Policy Implementation, Dr. Harsha de Silva said.

The figures of the government which are given by the Census and Statistics Department and the Central Bank have huge discrepancies between the GDP per capita growth figure versus the ground figure.

“What we have is the power point presentation by the former Governor,” he said. The way in which the dividends of growth are distributed among the people is unequal as a few rich people received more and the bulk got less, especially those who worked hard got little. This is because the development model of the previous government was at the expense of the poor," the Deputy Minister said. The development agenda of the previous government was a means to take money from all the projects by a few. The exorbitant amounts that were spent on road projects and other work were avenues for people to pilfer money.

The rosy picture of our economy is not the reality for the households in the country.

"We intend to re-calculate the growth rate and give dividends to people while playing by the rules. Everybody deserves a chance and the government works towards creating an enabling environment," Dr. de Silva said.

“We will create a competitive social market economy comprising a strong middle class, a wealthy rural sector and a healthy population. Development is how well the average household is doing and it cannot be measured by tall buildings or wide roads. If a family is better-off compared to the previous year then there is development and it is possible to measure as the growth of real household income is measurable," he said.

Sri Lanka recorded 7.5 percent economic growth whereas household income growth was only 0.5 percent per year.

"The government will take radical steps to rectify the failures in the previous economic model and we believe in the market economy.

The only way to ensure sustainable growth and development is to make the market work with effective regulatory control.

The government also has an important role to play when the market is failing," Dr. de Silva said. "There should be non-disruptive regulations to monitor the market regularly. We will ensure that social and economic justice is achieved during this year," he said