Five-Year Outlook

The country quote s export development agency is putting together an action plan to push annual export growth in to double digits.rn rnThe Export Development Board says the five-year plan will look at eight strategic areas to drive growth. The board is hoping to drive the exports sector to grow at 13 percent annually.rn rnldblquote […]

What Firms Want

Sixty per cent of the private sector is betting on a three to five per cent growth in the economy for 2003, below government forecasts.rn rnA wistful 58 per cent expect prices to swell within a range of seven and eleven per cent in 2003.rn rnThe findings are responses to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]

Structural Support

Sri Lanka is to receive up to US$ 400 mn, which amounts to 100 percent of its SDR quotas, under the International Monetary Fund quote s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.rn rnThe long-term loan package is linked to the government quote s three-year economic reform programme spelt out in the Regaining Sri Lanka paper and […]

Milk Money

The LTTE and government meetings are drawing up strategies to milk the world donor community to the maximum at the June donor conference.rn rnThe Cabinet spokesperson Prof. G L Peiris refused to put a quantum, but the government is looking at raising around US$ 600 million in medium term funds for national development projects.rn rnProf. […]

System Check

Change is in the offing to revamp a highly criticised public sector with a top-level Administrative Committee appointed by the Premier, pushing for a series of reforms.rn rnAmong the key changes being suggested is a re-look at salary structures for government workers endash the removal of upper salary limits and doing away with a uniform […]

Goodbye

The Board of Investment (BOI) is looking to trim up to 50 percent of its workforce with a voluntary retirement scheme doing its rounds among staff.rn rnFollowing the BOI Act that was passed in Parliament in December last year, the country quote s main investing arm is being restructured – split up into five Regional […]

Small Hands

A white paper on wide ranging reforms to support and strengthen the small and medium sector has moved from the drawing board to the government for approval. rnBacked by the Asian Development Bank, the reforms form the basis of a proposed national policy on SME quote s, with a draft action plan spread out over […]

Evaluating Reforms

Government projects are not always evaluated, and when they are the evaluations are not taken seriously.As a result failures are unaccounted for and future approaches unaltered. A national policy for evaluation of programs and organizations is expected to help. rn rnldblquote First of all a national Policy on Evaluation has to be done. A clear […]

Balance Sheet

The proposed Public Finance Act is to be pushed through to Cabinet as an urgent bill, as Parliament resumes work in the New Year. The new Bill raises financial reporting standards for public enterprises and gives legal backing to existing financial regulations.rn rnAs it exists, all financial regulations are compiled into a book of administrative […]

Shedding Weight

The government is to offer voluntary retirement to at least 10,000 state sector employees every year starting from 2003, as it plans to cut around 100,000 jobs in the clerical and lower grades.rn rnExecutives and higher grades will not be targeted for retirement, officials say. Officials say a detailed analysis of all government sector jobs […]

Poverty Alleviation Party

The Samurdhi program is getting a clean up in an attempt to get back on track with the scheme quote s original objective.rn rnWhile, some poverty alleviation has been taking place, high politicization of the scheme has prevented it from helping the poor at large.rn rnThe restructuring of Samurdhi attempts to rid it of its […]

Subcontract

A lquote Reverse Fair quote kicked off Friday that attempts to forge links for subcontracting between small enterprises and five sector-specific industries, here and abroad.

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