Private sector as much to blame for corruption
View(s):The malignant issues in the Sri Lankan governance structure and economy cannot be settled with plasters but need a good shake-up with true-to-heart, honest, and deep-seated solutions.
Nadishani Perera, Executive Director – Transparency International Sri Lanka charged that all stakeholders in this man-made crisis should be ashamed and should learn from their mistakes.
She added that it is important to hold the government accountable for the messy breakdown in the governance structures.
She said that last year people were out on the street protesting because they made the connection between governance and economics. “We are in this situation because of bad man-made decisions. This situation has to be fixed with a permanent solution. It is because the cancer is still there. We need the governance diagnostic by the IMF, but what are the governance reforms that we have done so far?”
At the last session of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2023, she told a roomful of business leaders that they are responsible partly for the breakdown in these structures. “We are demanding that public officials refrain from corruption, but what about the private sector? They’re also the enablers of this corruption that we see. Such grand-scale corruption couldn’t have happened without the lawyers, real estate agents.”
While there’s much talk about revitalising the economy, there’s an alarming lack of focus on governance reforms and corruption prevention.
She also noted that the country does not lag in laws to combat corruption, but the implementation is pathetic. “The impunity is a big issue in this country. Cronies of the government get tax breaks and don’t pay taxes.”
The unprecedented crisis in Sri Lanka saw a silver lining where many reforms were pushed through which would have seen resistance otherwise, Krishan Balendra, Chairman John Keels Holdings said.
The Paris Club creditor negotiation conclusion was welcomed by the panellists with the IMF reforms designed to stabilise the economy. Shahan Semasinghe, State Minister of Finance said that the country is now set to receive the second tranche.
This session saw panellist agreeing on transparency, integrity, inclusive and participatory accountability, and oversight as key drivers for change for the country.
These are critical success factors to overcome corruption vulnerabilities, public finance management, tax policies, revenue administration and public procurement, Central Bank governance and financial sector oversight.
“The Public Finance Committee needs consensus and there is no other search committee in Parliament, but at the end of it all, all political parties need to come together. The Parliamentary Budget Office should be independent with a 25 per cent analytical unit. If this is possible, we can all come to a consensus,” Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP and Chair of the Committee on Public Finance said.
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