The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) facilitated a dialogue between key stakeholders, including policymakers, business leaders, and experts, last week to promote a deeper understanding of the economic challenges facing Sri Lanka and the solutions needed to overcome them.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe was the keynote speaker at CA Sri Lanka CEO Discussion Forum on “IMF and Beyond” at the Galle Face Hotel.
It attracted some of the country’s most prominent business leaders and c-suite executives, who were provided an in-depth overview of what’s in store for Sri Lanka in the coming months, along with the expectations of the business community as the nation attempts to wade through its worst ever economic crisis.
Incidentally, the CA Sri Lanka Forum was one of the first open dialogues since the country received approval from the International Monetary Fund for the USD 2.9 billion loan last month.
President Wickremesinghe said, “There are people who skip one meal. There are 500,000 people who have lost their jobs. Many small and medium enterprises are on the verge of collapse. What happened? Who is responsible? All of us are responsible for the situation we are in today. We must remember that.”
The President said that by continuing to point fingers at each other, the country will not succeed. “What matters to us is not merely the IMF program, but also what comes beyond that.
“Implementing this program is how we seize the opportunity for a more prosperous future,” he said, adding, “All I request of you is to make up your mind that we are going to grow and this is the last chance, and let’s press the accelerator to the floor.”
Guest speaker, State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, said Chartered Accountants are highly skilled financial managers who possess great talents and responsibilities. “Their commitment and support are crucial in building the country, as they generate income from the main institutions.”
Adding value to the discourse was a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Government, and Opposition, professional bodies and chambers.
The government side was led by President Wickremesinghe and included Minister of Foreign Affairs M.U.M. Ali Sabry, Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera, State Minister of Investment Promotion, Dilum Amunugama, Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Siriwardana, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, Senior Economic Advisor to the President, Dr. R.H.S Samaratunga, and Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Deshal De Mel.
The opposition was represented by Eran Wickramaratne, and Dr. Harsha de Silva, both Members of Parliament representing the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and M.A. Sumanthiran, Member of Parliament representing the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.
The professional bodies and chambers were represented by Vish Govindasamy, Sharad Amalean, Harsha Fernando, Ali Ashique, Ken Vijayakumar, Nuwan Gamage, Ms. Anoji De Silva, Faizal Samath and Asoka Hettigoda. The panel was moderated by Mohamed Adamaly.
Dr. Harsha de Silva said that Sri Lanka cannot continue to borrow and should focus on bringing in investments. “We need to get the confidence back, and that is what is essential, and let’s hope we can find some common ground and move forward.”
Eran Wickramaratne proposed for Sri Lanka to follow a more radical approach in combating corruption, similar to how countries such as Hong Kong have addressed the issue.
He said what Sri Lanka needed was an independent public prosecutor who would go after corruption cases, because, when it concerns a Minister and the Attorney General’s department, there is always a conflict of interest. “We need to build long term confidence so that the country’s direction will not be reversed.”
While agreeing that everyone must pay tax, M. A. Sumanthiran said that there is disparity in the tax structure, with the poor being forced to pay tax, while the imposition of the wealth tax has been postponed. “In taxation, there has to be a strict yardstick on fairness, which has still not been achieved, and that is an area that needs to be looked at.”
Vish Govindasamy said that a government is not supposed to be doing business, but unfortunately, there are lots of resorts, hotels, restaurants, and various other things that the Government in some way or another got into, and now they need to get out. “SEOs have also gotten into the form of subsiding, and we cannot continue this. The years of subsidies are out the window,” he said.
Ms. Anoji de Silva said, while for many, the tax increase was the issue, for the smaller businesses, including SMEs, the biggest issue has been the increase in interest rates, which has resulted in many of them being unable to pay. “SMEs are a contributor and not a burden, and they get very little assistance,” she said, while calling on the government to step up and help the sector.
Harsha Fernando said that transparency is not standalone and is just one element in the anti-corruption drive. He proposed to minimise the separation between anti-corruption and decision-making. “It is two areas, but they should be merged into one,” he said. According to him, in decision-making when procedures and the law are followed, then transparency automatically happens. Speaking on behalf of the IT sector, Ali Ashique, outlined how the brain drain has impacted his sector. “It has definitely affected, and when the middle leaves, it is difficult to build new talent,” he said.
Ken Vijayakumar acknowledged that every company in Sri Lanka was facing a brain drain. “The Government must give them confidence to stay and explain how it is planning to turn the situation around and also shed light on how they plan to revise the tax structure to deter professionals from leaving.”
Nuwan Gamage proposed a national branding like what countries such as Bahrain and Singapore have adopted. “They have put together BOI, the Export Development Board, and the Tourism Promotion Bureau with the intention that a ‘tourist today is an investor tomorrow’ — and we are proposing the same approach.”
In relation to national branding, Faizal Samath found Gamage’s proposal to be an interesting point, especially at a time when, according to him, there was an ongoing debate in the tourism industry about whether the country should be called Sri Lanka or Ceylon.
The discussion wrapped up with, Vice President of the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, Asoka Hettigoda disclosing that there has been no global tourism campaign for Sri Lanka for the past ten years, and the Government must take steps to address this matter and fix it quickly, especially due to the high-earning potential from tourism.