Open Forum today on regional disparities

The Sri Lanka Economic Association will hold an Open Forum on “Abridgement of Regional Disparities:  Review of Strategies and Programmes” today (Tuesday, 22nd of November 2011) from 5.00 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. at the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) Auditorium, 275/75, Prof. Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha, Colombo 7.

It will feature distinguished speakers including Sri Lanka Economic Association President Prof. A. D. V. de S. Indraratna, Friedrich Ebert Foundation Resident Representative Bettina Meier, Finance Commission of Sri Lanka Former Chairman Asoka Gunawardena, HNB Chairman Dr. Ranee Jayamaha, and Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa and President IESL Prof. Ananda Jayawardena.

The Open Forum is an opportunity for academics, economists, policy makers, practitioners and concerned citizens to conduct a free and open debate about issues of common concern and public interest.

The Open Forum will provide a platform to discuss the following questions: What are the main elements of growth policy and strategy that enabled modest reductions in regional disparities?; How could the recent experience be fostered and institutionalised?; What are the specific sectors/ programmes that should be accorded priority to accelerate reduction of these disparities? and What insights can be drawn from the experience gained by middle income countries with similar experiences that had successfully reduced these imbalances?.

Sri Lanka has a highly skewed geographical distribution of GDP. During the recent past, not less than 50% of the country’s GDP originated in the Western Province. Within the remaining eight provinces, the distribution of GDP is also uneven as those with urban centers record a significantly higher share of GDP.

While the share of the Western Province’s GDP started to reduce in the past two to three years to about 45% of the country’s GDP, the regional imbalance remains, with social and economic implications that can lead to social tensions and to problems of governance.

Disparities in access to infrastructure, facilities and services, including transportation, communication, electricity, water supply, sanitation, education, health, access to banking and credit etc remain a challenge to social and economic development.

Incentives for private sector investments are needed for inclusive growth across the regions and income segments.

An accelerated overall growth of 8%-10% requires an increase in investment, particularly in the less developed regions. However, accessing investment funds in the form of Foreign Direct Investment and even as loan funds at competitive interest rates becomes increasingly difficult, as well as maintaining sound macroeconomic fundamentals in a situation of budget deficits and increasing public debt.

The Government has recognised the need to reduce the current high regional disparities, and perceptible improvement in the relative GDP shares in some provinces has been shown.