Shame, shame, shame
View(s):For the umpteenth time, the Finance Ministry has once again begun wavering on the much-awaited 15 per cent interest on deposits in finance companies for senior citizens which was announced in the 2016 Budget. In an April 23, 2016 story headlined “15% interest finally for senior citizens”, the Business Times quoted Treasury Secretary R.H.S Samaratunge as saying that “a circular will be issued before the end of the month to the Central Bank (CB) to issue a directive to finance companies (and commercial banks) to implement the proposal”. He told the paper that clear guidelines would be issued to minimise any confusion.
That was not to be. More than five weeks after this story appeared, the Treasury is yet to issue the directive to the Central Bank (CB), which in turn is yet to inform finance companies. Now comes the news that the ministry is strapped for funds and is unlikely to implement it. In fact it was much earlier (on March 3rd) that CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran told this paper that he had got the instructions from the Treasury Secretary dated February 29. But it appeared to have been temporary shelved at the time, as there were fears that if this is permitted, some Rs. 350 billion in deposits held by senior citizens in banks would move to finance companies and lead to a serious liquidity shortfall in the banking system.
Didn’t the Finance Minister and his team do their homework before including it in the budget instead of leading senior citizens on a merry-go-round? The Business Times has been consistently following up on this special interest scheme for senior citizens for the past 12 to 18 months ever since it was first introduced in the 2015 budget presented in November 2014 by then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We have reported the many twists and turns in this drama that has been enacted in the name of a group of elder citizens, many of whom have worked their hearts out for family, country and nation and are seeking a place in the sun with a little more income to ensure their independence without burdening their children.
With the cost of living eternally rising and promises made like the recent incessant rains (but not kept), the urgency for extra income, particularly in the context of many depositors shying away from doubtful finance companies, is rising going by the many letters containing pleas and appeals to this paper from older citizens to act on their behalf and persuade the government to implement the proposal. In some cases, every day and other times, every week, senior citizens eagerly read the newspapers and in particular the Business Times on Sunday looking for good news on the proposal The Business Times has had at times, to comfort some emotional depositors who call the paper on a Monday, expressing their disappointment in not finding any positive information on the scheme. These elders have been subject to untold injustice by the government in this shall-we-shall-we-not approach on this proposal. This is not only unfair and unjust but just not ‘Yahapalanaya’, Mr. Minister!
Tourism and its lack of promotion
Sri Lanka last week marked the 50th anniversary of tourism in the country with a grand event attended by the Prime Minister and the visiting deputy chief of the UN World Tourism Organisation. Another mega event is slated for this month (outside Colombo) with the participation of the UN WTO chief, Secretary General Taleb Rifai. However the celebrations are far below that undertaken by other countries that have passed this important milestone. In the Sri Lankan case it was even more necessary to chart out a calendar of events across the year leading up the May 2016 celebration to showcase the country’s breadth of diversity and offerings.
Little planning went into the event. In most countries events like this are is set across an events calendar for 12 months with free airline tickets and free stays to regular travellers to build momentum. After more than a year in office, the new administration running the affairs of tourism is yet to get off the ground a proper tourism promotion and marketing campaign; a country promotion. Thankfully the private sector is driving ahead with its own promotional campaigns individually and collectively sans the important facilitation needed from the government. The private sector’s engagement in promotion far outweighs the government’s efforts by 3-to-1.
Instead of putting all its eggs into a ‘basket’ of spending a huge slice of the ministry budget on appearances at travel exhibitions and nonsensical media releases that announce “a successful Sri Lanka stall”, a sizable portion should be set aside for a vibrant, carefully thought-of country promotion campaign. Having emerged out of three decades of conflict in mid-2009, the authorities then should have organized a mega promotion campaign to tell the world that “Sri Lanka is ready for business, ready to welcome visitors by the thousands’. That didn’t happen and hasn’t happened even under the post-January 2015 regime.
The authorities appear to not even be listening though Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjorn Gaustadsaether told local businesses in April that Sri Lanka need to restore its once-battered image with a promotion campaign. He added: “People in Norway remember that there was conflict in Sri Lanka. All the news we get in the world daily (is mostly bad), you also have to get the good news through and that good news is that Sri Lanka is now at peace. But it is more difficult to get good news through and extra effort has to be made for you to say ‘listen … this country has changed and has a great potential’. You need to market it well.” What more evidence do you need to prove the need for a proper international tourism promotion and marketing campaign?