BusinessSri Lanka’s need of the hour is to overcome the current political instability quickly as prolonged instability will bring disaster to the country’s economic consolidation, Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said today. The government should initiate a frameork for service delivery, effective policy formulation and continuation of development activities, he told a media conference convened to brief the monetary policy review of the Central Bank in Colombo on Wednesday. The enactment of the Inland Revenue Act, Hambantota Port project deal and several other foreign funded development programmes were among the different initiatives taken by the government for the bettterment of the country despite differences of opinion among its coalition partners, he added. He disclosed that initial steps have been taken by the government to stabilise the economy as satisfactory, highlighted by lower inflation, a more favourable fiscal performance, and an improvement in the external accounts. It remains an open question whether the political will is present to ensure faithful implementation of the economic reforms, he noted pointing out that the economic growth will be around 5 per cent this year from an unexpected 3.1 percent in 2017 with an anticipated increase in foreign direct investment.

Source: Sunday Times April 04, 2018 13:41 UTC