World Bank says policy changes critical to accelerating “poverty reduction and shared prosperity”
View(s):World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region, Annette Dixon, during her recent visit to Colombo has said that policy change is critical to accelerating poverty reduction and boosting shared prosperity in Sri Lanka. In a media statement issued by the bank’s Colombo office, the Vice President is quoted as saying that there was potential to achieve higher levels of inclusive and sustainable growth in Sri Lanka and renewed the World Bank Group’s (WBG) commitment to partner with the new government in implementing its policy reform agenda.
“In meetings with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, she shared the findings of the WBG’s recently concluded diagnostic. This exercise identified the most critical constraints and opportunities for reducing poverty and fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population of Sri Lanka,” the release said.
“This is a crucial moment in Sri Lanka’s history to make a transformational change by fostering more inclusive, private sector-led growth and rebalancing public and private interests,” said Ms. Dixon. “Such a vision will need to be accompanied by transformational government-led reforms and pro-active macro-economic management. I was pleased to learn of the Government’s early intentions and to explore ways to calibrate our support.”