Top economist finds gaps in Govt. economic policies

A top economist on Thursday said that the Sri Lankan government needs to have the right people in place to draft the country's economic policies.
Prof. Razeen Sally of the Lee Kwan Yew University in Singapore, highlighted the credibility of the present Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka to hold that position and questioned the absence of key politicians like Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva and Minister Eran Wickramaratne in key government placements to draft the economic policy of the country going forward.

He was addressing the business community on the subject "What Can We Expect in 2016 - Global Economy and Sri Lanka" at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo on Thursday.
He stated that Singapore had only its political leader Lee Kwan Yew as head but had chosen the right people in key positions to help define the economic landscape of the country.
In addition, Prof. Sally pointed out that Sri Lanka needs to come out of its complacent attitude and bring about key economic reforms that were all pulled out of the budget.
The economist noted that Sri Lanka has to enter into trade negotiations like the upcoming pact with the US and not be increasingly dependent on aid institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for which they would have to go to next year to obtain funding. (SD)