'Living it up' together

Christianity is, numerically, a 'minority' religion in Sri Lanka, but the brute power of European colonialism had previously ensured a disproportionate position in society for the Christian community.

A half century and more of post-colonial nation-building - especially with State intervention as well as a culturally sensitive approach by local mainstream churches - has seen the regaining of some proportionality and equilibrium in the social influence of the various religions on this island. The vagaries of vote bank politics did on occasion, however, cause outbursts of majoritarian supremacism, especially as the long drawn ethnic conflict intensified communal passions.

The waning of ethnic insurgency and the fading of nationalist war culture following the political changes this year, have greatly reduced such inter-religious tensions. Courtesy of the regime change, the minority religious and cultural communities now feel more 'equal' alongside the majority community.

This feeling of being included in the national community overall, of being fully part of Sri Lankan nationhood, now infuses a far greater sense of well-being in the celebrations of the numerically smaller religious communities. And the inter-religious equilibrium that seems to be settling in across communities is reflected in economic life as well. Just as much as market compulsions routinely inflate the consumer culture of Christian 'good cheer' come December, Sri Lanka's religious diversity today ensures that same consumerist bubble to varying degrees for other religio-cultural festivals too at different times in our national calendar. And, as the market does so the world over, this animated consumerism draws in all communities spreading festivity and spreading cultural co-existence.

The religious traditionalist of a certain type may deplore this consumerism as the temptation of Mammon, but it is a challenge to the faithful - whatever the religion - to channel the market compulsions in creative ways that celebrate gifting and charity rather than selfish accumulation. 'Living it up' during the Christmas season, thus, is something that must reflect the celebration of the communityboth religious and national. Christians symbolically celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ not only among themselves but also together with all their neighbours of other faiths and philosophies. Likewise, in our freshly re-united Sri Lankan society the people of all other religions, big and small also share the spiritual joy of their sacred moments together with their neighbours. This is why our country continues to be known as the island of Dharma.

As all religions preach, the spread and rule of compassion is paramount.

Budget: balanced or balancing

'Balanced' is the economic and fiscal objective of any budget, whether of the national government or of any private enterprise. However, as the 'national unity' government is learning, a governmental budget must balance more than just the national accounts.

Of course, any government knows full well that national accounting must also take into account the balancing of social needs and aspirations. Governments of even the richest and most stable economies of the world know that while taxation is needed to ensure revenue and tax concessions are needed to ensure capital investment, neither can be done without sensitivity to the social expectations of vote banks. Thus budgets must not only be properly balanced fiscally, they must be seen to be balanced socially as well. And, in a government that is a precarious balance of power between the two traditionally rival political parties, such socio-political balancing is even more decisive - as Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake is learning since presenting the Budget for 2016.

Both major parties in government today must seriously consider, however, the imperatives of stable economics in the context of a challenging global market. The trick is in the smoothing of the rough edges between expenditure and revenue. Even as the government must offer incentives to capital investment and observe expenditure discipline, social safety nets must be seen to be assured if overall societal acceptance of the intended economic trajectory is to be won. No major social interest group can be disregarded.

Hence, the hurried adjustments that the Budget for 2016 has undergone under the obvious pressure of demonstrating worker and farmer unions and a lobbying middle class. The Government must learn two lessons from this experience. Firstly, a very sensitive and accurate balancing of social group interests and needs is required in the actual budgetary plan. Secondly, there should be a pre-budget preparation of carefully nurturing the range of social interest groups from the business community, to the working class, to the farmers, to mobilise support for intended budgetary strategies. While the first requires very scientific and professional Budget design, the second requires a very inclusive and deliberate consultative process in preparation for the Budget.