Sep 18, 2019 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says the government's plans to put the island on a leapfrog trajectory to growth so that it can become the first advanced economy in South Asia.
"We are now an upper-middle income country and do we want to stagnate in the middle-income trap or have a leapfrog trajectory which will make us an advanced economy.
" the Premier said while delivering the key note address at the ‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2019’ in Colombo, yesterday.
"We need to prepare the country. We have handled debt and stabilised the economy.
Now we have a surplus in our primary budget.
We have increased our revenue. Shouldn’t we safeguard this?" he asked.
For the last five years, he says we had to take unpopular decisions for that purpose.
"That is the role of the Government. At the same time, we pumped enough money for the development in all sectors.
"
The Summit organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC)was themed ‘Re-calibrating Sri Lanka’s Economic Trajectory towards 2020-2025’.
Speaking further the Prime Minister also addressed the importance of the economy to be fully export oriented in the next 5 years and that the government policies must ensure it is a private led growth focusing on tradeable goods.
"There must be much larger space for investors.
Our business climate has to improve. You must have reforms to boost private investments and productivity,” he added.