Make the pro-growth, pro-poor plan work

PRO-GROWTH, pro-poor - this is the ideal economic recipe for a country such as Sri Lanka which has a long way to go before it could speak of having attained sustainable development.

We hope, therefore, that the UPFA Government's second budget proposals which have just been announced and unveiled by Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, would take the country farther along the development path.

We prefer to speak with guarded optimism of our economic prospects because a huge developmental challenge is continuing to confront us. In analysing problems of this kind we cannot afford to lapse into the rousing rhetoric of the politician because far too much is at stake.

While Sri Lanka has to be taken along the pro-poor and pro-growth path, as indicated by the Finance Minister, we need to remember that economic victories of this kind would be ours, only if untiring efforts are put in by all relevant sections - including the political elite and the rulers - to achieve the visualized development goals.

There is a general expectation of achieving an 8 per cent growth rate, which, it is hoped, would pave the way for a 10 percent growth performance, but what is important is to translate these economic achievements into growth for all, particularly the poor of Sri Lanka.

In other words, the desired aim is growth with equity. Achieving the former does not necessarily mean that the latter would follow in a very mechanical cause - and-effect sequence. Economic growth targets may be achieved but its fruits could very well remain concentrated in a few hands, as has happened in the main so far. Accordingly, arrangements to achieve redistributive justice should go hand-in-hand with economic growth, if sustainable development is to be achieved.

Lest we be misunderstood, we wish to clarify that people's dependence on State handouts is not what we mean by economic equity. The poorest of the poor should be helped by the State in material terms, as is already happening under the Samurdhi scheme, but this should not translate into a perpetual dependence by the people on the State.

This could eventually prove counterproductive because the aim of development is not the creation of an army of dependants but the empowerment of the people. That is, self-reliance rather than passive reliance on the State.

Accordingly, we hope these parameters of development would be borne in mind by the State as we move along.

However, the State has done well by focusing on infrastructure development with the emphasis on areas such as education, health and transport. Infrastructure development is an effective means of taking development to the rural areas and there is no denying that this aspect of the development experience needs to be strongly focused on.

For instance, without the spread of education in our impoverished provinces the knowledge - based society which the Finance Minister hopes to establish would not materialize. Minus a knowledge - based society, poverty levels could not be reduced because education proves crucial in entrepreneurship.

Likewise, if economic goods produced in the provinces cannot be marketed through a sound road network, it would be futile to speak of the economic empowerment of the people.

The State has, therefore, set the correct parameters for our development through the present budget proposals. What needs to be done is to put these plans into action and this requires untiring labour by all concerned.

Harbinger of peace

Last week's visits by both Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Jaffna peninsula augur well for peace and reconciliation in our troubled island. This showed in ample measure that the two leading political entities had not neglected the North.

The fact that Northern residents' concerns have been taken into account by both candidates is an encouraging sign. They have also visited the key Eastern cities and mingled with the people.

Prime Minister Rajapakse, who addressed the people of Jaffna via a live radio broadcast said that he had no intention of going back to war, contrary to propaganda spread by certain sections that his victory would inevitably lead to a resumption of hostilities. He reassured his commitment to a negotiated political settlement which will enable all communities to live in harmony.

As the Prime Minister has demonstrated, the Southern political establishment must bear in mind the aspirations of Northern residents who have suffered immensely during the conflict. They do not wish to see a war again in their midst. The ceasefire, though flawed in a number of aspects, has restored a measure of normality to their lives. Losing that atmosphere pf peace will indeed be a tragedy.

The LTTE must also let the people of the North decide their political fortunes on their own. It must remain true to its word that it would not get in the way of those who wish to participate in the November 17 election. Taking that right away from the people or interfering with the electoral process in any way would not lead to the salvation of the Tamil people, the self-proclaimed goal of the LTTE.

We hope that the incoming President would be able to take the peace process to a successful conclusion. That will make a full-scale Presidential visit to the Jaffna peninsula a momentous reality.