Sri Lanka needs consistent policies to boost investor confidence, says CCC

Sri Lanka’s main business chamber has urged the government to resort to consistent policies to build investor confidence.

“Consistency in policy should be a top priority of the government in order to build confidence and boost private sector investment,” members of the main Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said in a statement to the media on Monday. 

At its latest monthly meeting, the committee observed that while there is greater interest among government officials to listen to, and address, private sector concerns, this is yet to translate into a stable economic policy environment, where policy changes are carefully considered alongside their impacts on business activity. 

The committee, comprising corporate leaders across every major industry sector in the country, provides an incisive perspective of the country’s business context and the sentiments of the private sector. Overwhelmingly, the group asserted that the most critical concern right now is tax policy uncertainty and ad hoc policy changes. 

“With several shifts within the span of a few months, the lack of clarity and the uncertainty surrounding tax changes are hurting the business climate. The group also emphasized that conflicting messages from different agencies and individuals on the same issue is harmful for business confidence, and urged coherence and consistency across all agencies relevant to an issue,” it said.

Leaders in several sectors also observed that delays in decision-making regarding regulatory and administrative matters were affecting businesses, and addressing this can spur dynamism in economic activity.

“In order to raise Sri Lanka’s investor attractiveness, spur new business activity, leverage on international goodwill, and position the country as a strong contender in the region, all of which are national objectives that the private sector fully supports, it is essential to have consistency of policies, and robust public-private dialogue processes to avoid ad hoc policy changes that have negative implications for the economy.” - ENDS -