Want To Beat The Middle Income Trap?
By W.A Wijewardena -October 14, 2013
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
The 10 economic commandments
Delivering the keynote address at the recently-concluded Silver Jubilee Convention of the Association of Professional Bankers, better known as APB, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao, left his audience with 10 suggestions which are in fact 10 Commandments. The theme of the Convention was ‘Beyond Growth: A Formula for Success’ and the theme of the keynote address on how to beat the middle income country trap was very apt to the Convention’s theme since it is an issue which Sri Lanka has to now tackle in its indefatigable march toward wealth and prosperity.
Sri Lanka’s linear growth models
Sri Lanka’s avowed goal, as it had been in the past, has been to attain continuous economic growth to elevate its economy from the current lower middle income country to higher middle income country in the next few years and from there, to a rich country within the next one and a half decades.
As this writer has pointed out in previous articles in this series, these linear growth projections are fraught with unexpected impediments that will derail the country’s march on a pre-planned linear growth path (available at: http://www.ft.lk/2013/05/06/sri-lankas-linear-growth-projections-to-prosperity-in-a-non-linear-world/). For instance, for the country to attain this goal, it has to grow at a compound rate of 10% plus year after year. But the resource limitations within the country and market limitations outside the country are to work against it slowing down the growth and limiting the initial high growth only to a few successive years.
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
The 10 economic commandmentsWikiLeaks: Ranil Never Really Took People Into Confidence
October 15, 2013
“Overall, the discontent within the UNP stems from the view of many party members (and outside observers) that Wickremesinghe led the party poorly in the April election campaign.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and discuses the UNP’s internal crisis after the 2005 April parliamentary election. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead on May 12, 2004.
Ranil
The sense that Wickremesinghe was a failure has taken various forms, including many press commentary pieces in English- and Sinhala-language newspapers grumbling about his leadership style, which is commonly seen as lackluster to put it mildly. In one such article, which appeared in the English-language ISLAND on April 5, local political analyst Rohan Edirisinha said “the prime minister never really took people into confidence, whether he was dealing with the peace process or the rebels or dealing with the economy.”
