WHY THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE LAST FEW YEARS IS NOT THE REAL GROWTH – DrHarsha de Silva explains..

The economic growth much lauded in the last few years is not the real growth and does not reflect the actual status of the country, DrHarsha de Silva stated at a recent function held by the United Professional Forum.

“How is real growth measured and how is the GDP formulated – how is the real structure of the economy updated “ DrHarsha de Silva said, “ For an example, with changing times and perspectives, informal sectors can be included in the formal sector used for GDP consideration. The growth figures of 8% have been measured against the assumptions based on 2002 data – in actual fact, the growth is only about 4%, when measured against today’s data.”

“In 2010, the World Bank, the IMF and the UN and other world bodies declared that indices used for economic development must be updated. India despite being a much larger country than ours, has complied and so has Africa. But this has not been done in Sri Lanka so we are still using the indices that were used back in 2002 in a world transformed tremendously since then.”

“ So we can safely say that the economic engine of Sri Lanka, despite the boasting, has been struggling to breath, despite the horn loudly tooting. Sadly, it’s been a slow ride.”

“ What we must keep in mind is that growth patterns differ as time goes by. What was relevant in the Seventies is not so today. We need to be updated, we need to be conscious of what changes we have seen and experienced in the economy.”

“ This is where we beg to differ – we have a plan, a long term vision to turn the economy of Sri Lanka around. A vision that builds on all sectors of the economy, empowering growth , real growth not based on old indices but real time ones. Growth that will fuel Sri Lanka’s thrust into the 21s century.”  He emphasized.