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IN THE MIDST OF AN ADVERSE WORLD ECONOMY SRI LANKA RECORDS HISTORY’S BEST GDP GROWTH RATE SAYS AMUNUGAMA

By Walter Jayawardhana

Dr. Sarath Amunugama Sri Lanka’s Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion told annual meetings of IMF and World Bank board of governors his island nation raised its growth rate to approximately 6.5 % showing strong ressilence to adverse global economic developments.

“Comprehensive development programmes have been launched by the government to address key constraints for more equitable growth have raised the GDP growth rate to approximately 6 . 5%, compared to the historical average of around 4 . 5% in the past, with the expectations of rising it to 7 percent ,” Dr. Amunugama said , before the World Bank.

Dr. Sarath Amunugama, said under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka ’s financial system has shown strong resilience to adverse global developments . Comprehensive development programmes, he said, have been launched by the government to address key constraints for more equitable growth have raised the GDP growth rate to approximately 6 . 5%, compared to the historical average of around 4 . 5% in the past . There has been a sharp reduction in unemployment .

He further told governors that Sri Lanka ’s growth momentum is expected to continue and register around 7% in 2008, particularly benefiting from improved performance in the agriculture sector . Due to a tight monetary policy and good harvests, Amunugama said inflation is on the decline . Poverty indicators have shown remarkable progress in recent years and Sri Lanka has already achieved most of the UN Millennium Development Goals The World Bank has already committed US$ 900 million to Sri Lanka through the new Country Assistance Strategy, he further pointed out.

The Minister also drew the attention of the Boards of Governors to the important role the IMF and the World Bank have to play to safeguard global financial stability and help maintain a sustainable level of development, particularly in light of the current global economic downturn . He stressed that due to the increased economic interdependency among nations through trade, investment and sophisticated capital markets, it is highly likely that many countries will have to go through an extremely difficult period in the near future .

Whilst taking positive note of the progressive steps taken by the management of the IMF and the World Bank, particularly in regard to its reforms and new development financing initiatives, the need for sufficient flexibility on the part of the Fund and the Bank to help those countries that may need urgent liquidity support and development assistance at this stage was stressed .

On the sidelines of the Annual Boards of Governors Meetings, the Minister led the Sri Lanka delegation to the G24 Ministers Meeting; held bilateral meetings with a number of his counterparts, including Hon . Seyyed Shams Al-din Hosseini, the Finance Minister of Iran; Hon . Ibrahim A Al- Assaf, the Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia; the Indian delegation to the Meetings and Mr . Robert Dohner of the US Treasury . The Minister also briefed a number of senior officials of the IMF and World Bank on important developments taking place in Sri Lanka due to the proactive policies of the Government of Sri Lanka

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