saraprobe
08-13-2007, 08:31 PM
August 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankans need to change attitudes that are holding the country back despite it being reasonably well endowed with human and natural resources, a top economic analyst has said.
Anila Dias Bandaranaike, a former director of statistics at Central Bank who had gained widespread respect for her independent analysis of economic trends said everybody – citizens, private businesses, state organisations and political leaders – are responsible for the country's present plight.
Sri Lanka was operating well below potential, she told the annual sessions of the Sri Lanka Economic Association on Saturday in a presentation on the causes and consequences of regional inequalities.
"We're naturally endowed with a varied, nutritious diet - yet we have malnutrition," she said.
"We're busy killing each other when we could work together in unity in diversity," she added, referring to the quarter-century long war for a separate Tamil state in the island's north and east by the Tamil Tigers.
Free Lunch
Dias Bandaranaike decried the widespread attitude among Sri Lankan of a 'free lunch' – that the state was able to freely subsidise goods and services and bore responsibility for giving jobs.
"There is a wrong perception of a 'free lunch' being available, that the government has enough money to pay for imports and give subsidies."
Although Sri Lankan do not pay fees to get education or health care in government schools and hospitals, it was not really free.
"There's no free education or health," Dias Bandaranaike said. "It's paid for by taxes."
Other economists had pointed out that most subisidies are financed by printed money, resulting rapid rises in inflation, which ultimately hurt the very people the politicians wanted to 'help'.
Another attitude that needs changing was the perception that the public services were there to provide employment.
"It's an attitude we need to change – the assumption that the state owes citizens jobs.
"Nobody owes you a job," she said, adding that university graduates who vociferously demand state-sector jobs should be told: "The government has given you a free education – now it's up to you to make use of it, to show your skills and get a job."
Misdirected Resources
Likewise perceptions that the government could indefinitely subsidise goods and services were also wrong.
Fuel and fertiliser subsidies cost 33 billion rupees in 2005 and that money could have been used to finance many projects required to develop the country.
But, she said, whenever there was a fuel price hike, the media goes to town on the "unbearable burden" it imposes on people without explaining the reality of changing international market prices and the absurd logic of expecting governments to grant unlimited subsidies.
Another issue was the grant of fertiliser subsidies to farmers and the perpetual poverty of those engaged in farming.
There was "huge excess labour in agriculture" with one-third of people employed in agriculture being under-employed, Dias Bandaranaike said.
Farming Paradox
Farmers' incomes were lower than workers in other sectors and they were essentially engaging in subsistence farming, with no demand for other services into which they could diversify.
"Subsidies continue to perpetuate poverty," she noted, adding that there was a need to improve incomes of farmers and encourage them to diversity into more productive enterprises.
"Can you find one farmer who wants his son to be a farmer?" she asked. "They all want to be clerks or white collar workers."
The island is endowed with a reasonable amount of resources or attributes, she said.
But poor performances on other factors have resulted in regional inequalities with some regions, especially those furthest away from the capital Colombo, lagging while others are akin to a middle income country.
Dias Bandaranaike listed what she called the five 'A's for success.
These are:
- attributes – natural and human resources of each region;
- awareness – the demand for and availability and dissemination of information to optimise resources that enables rational decision making;
- access – opportunities for economic activities and employment in regions to generate better incomes;
- attitude – a national mindset that supports consistent, sustainable policies for progress; and
- accountability – monitoring systems and follow up on policy implementation
Dias Bandaranaike said that while Sri Lanka had maintained a reasonable degree of progress and the quality of life had improved, it can do better.
There was a need to raise awareness, provide access, change attitudes, and instill accountability towards making better use of Sri Lanka's attributes.
LBO (http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?newsID=1678030326&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=1)
Anila Dias Bandaranaike, a former director of statistics at Central Bank who had gained widespread respect for her independent analysis of economic trends said everybody – citizens, private businesses, state organisations and political leaders – are responsible for the country's present plight.
Sri Lanka was operating well below potential, she told the annual sessions of the Sri Lanka Economic Association on Saturday in a presentation on the causes and consequences of regional inequalities.
"We're naturally endowed with a varied, nutritious diet - yet we have malnutrition," she said.
"We're busy killing each other when we could work together in unity in diversity," she added, referring to the quarter-century long war for a separate Tamil state in the island's north and east by the Tamil Tigers.
Free Lunch
Dias Bandaranaike decried the widespread attitude among Sri Lankan of a 'free lunch' – that the state was able to freely subsidise goods and services and bore responsibility for giving jobs.
"There is a wrong perception of a 'free lunch' being available, that the government has enough money to pay for imports and give subsidies."
Although Sri Lankan do not pay fees to get education or health care in government schools and hospitals, it was not really free.
"There's no free education or health," Dias Bandaranaike said. "It's paid for by taxes."
Other economists had pointed out that most subisidies are financed by printed money, resulting rapid rises in inflation, which ultimately hurt the very people the politicians wanted to 'help'.
Another attitude that needs changing was the perception that the public services were there to provide employment.
"It's an attitude we need to change – the assumption that the state owes citizens jobs.
"Nobody owes you a job," she said, adding that university graduates who vociferously demand state-sector jobs should be told: "The government has given you a free education – now it's up to you to make use of it, to show your skills and get a job."
Misdirected Resources
Likewise perceptions that the government could indefinitely subsidise goods and services were also wrong.
Fuel and fertiliser subsidies cost 33 billion rupees in 2005 and that money could have been used to finance many projects required to develop the country.
But, she said, whenever there was a fuel price hike, the media goes to town on the "unbearable burden" it imposes on people without explaining the reality of changing international market prices and the absurd logic of expecting governments to grant unlimited subsidies.
Another issue was the grant of fertiliser subsidies to farmers and the perpetual poverty of those engaged in farming.
There was "huge excess labour in agriculture" with one-third of people employed in agriculture being under-employed, Dias Bandaranaike said.
Farming Paradox
Farmers' incomes were lower than workers in other sectors and they were essentially engaging in subsistence farming, with no demand for other services into which they could diversify.
"Subsidies continue to perpetuate poverty," she noted, adding that there was a need to improve incomes of farmers and encourage them to diversity into more productive enterprises.
"Can you find one farmer who wants his son to be a farmer?" she asked. "They all want to be clerks or white collar workers."
The island is endowed with a reasonable amount of resources or attributes, she said.
But poor performances on other factors have resulted in regional inequalities with some regions, especially those furthest away from the capital Colombo, lagging while others are akin to a middle income country.
Dias Bandaranaike listed what she called the five 'A's for success.
These are:
- attributes – natural and human resources of each region;
- awareness – the demand for and availability and dissemination of information to optimise resources that enables rational decision making;
- access – opportunities for economic activities and employment in regions to generate better incomes;
- attitude – a national mindset that supports consistent, sustainable policies for progress; and
- accountability – monitoring systems and follow up on policy implementation
Dias Bandaranaike said that while Sri Lanka had maintained a reasonable degree of progress and the quality of life had improved, it can do better.
There was a need to raise awareness, provide access, change attitudes, and instill accountability towards making better use of Sri Lanka's attributes.
LBO (http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?newsID=1678030326&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=1)