Time to do

THE Budget has been passed. Now Sri Lanka must face the real challenge of implementing it.

Are we up to the task? A simple but pertinent question that must be asked by everyone as part of the country that is obsessed by development. The aim is not only to recoup on missed opportunities, but to realise the full potential of Sri Lanka and claim our place in the world order as a progressive country.

The goal is a tough one and many pundits are of the opinion that the Budget is the first step in this long and arduous journey.

Several long-awaited reforms have been outlined in the Budget. One such point is tax reforms, especially for banks, as well as simplifying the income tax and provincial tax collection mechanisms. However, it is doubtful that the institutions that are charged with collecting tax, ensuring repayment and monitoring import and export processes are geared for this task.

The Inland Revenue Department, for example, is dealing with thousands of VAT repayments that have been delayed for as many as five years. Although an export assistance scheme was established in 2008 to assist local businesses hit by the global financial crisis, they are still awaiting their payments. Tourism – a sector that everyone is bullish about – has been singled out and slapped with large electricity tariffs.

These are just a few random points in a larger picture that have come to the fore. Every circumstance has positives and negatives and it is impossible to formulate a policy that has only the former. However, it is at this juncture that the institutions must step in to adapt, regulate and implement policies in a practical and efficient manner. Today trade happens in real time. People can buy and sell stocks from a beach across the globe on an iPhone. They can work thousands of miles away from their offices. In such a fluid environment, rules, regulations and policy changes must also happen swiftly to deal with the changing circumstances.

How quickly the Budget policies get off the ground will not only give confidence to locals, but will send a strong signal to potential foreign investors regarding the concentrated focus of Sri Lanka. It is not just the Government that is responsible for establishing this positive mindset, but also other stakeholders – big and small.

Political stability, good growth and great potential make for a potent combination. However, Sri Lanka has two other challenges interlinked to the economic sphere that need constant attention. One is that the Internally Displaced People need to be resettled and provided livelihoods. The UN has already pointed out that there is a shortfall of funds for this and committed pledges are needed to ensure that these vulnerable sections of society are linked to the larger economy.

The second is sustainable growth. The global economy’s addiction to growth: The myopic, often meaningless ‘growth’; that accrues by destroying the environment that grows by preying on the vulnerable, that depends on bailouts and austerity packages, and that robs entire societies of the animating passion to do meaningful work that matters, and replaces it with contempt for nature, the future, and one another.

That dogma has had its day — and today, no nation can prosper, as India is realising, by slavishly adhering to its tired, toxic tenets. So what happens now? That’s the great challenge — and each of us answers it every day, with every tiny decision we make.

Are we fighting the future — or are we fighting for the future?