High growth expected

May 7, 2010 by SAF Desk  
Filed under News at a glance

economic growth srilanka1Stable macroeconomic environment :

Inflation must remain at single digit level:

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Sri Lanka’s actual potential growth rate is above eight percent and can reach even nine to 10 percent by 2015 like India and China, a senior economist said.

Economic growth in 2010 will be closer to six percent and to make this growth sustainable and move to a higher growth of seven percent in 2011 and to an even higher level beyond 2011.

 Sri Lanka should bring down the budget deficit and create a stable macroeconomic environment, Institute of Policy Studies Executive Director Dr Saman Kelegama said.

“Sri Lanka has been growing at average five percent during the first two and a half decade under the open economy and averaged around six percent during 2005-2008 period,” he said at the launching of Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific report yesterday.

The two key impediments to achieve high growth – war and lack of political stability is now out of the way……

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The Conflict in Sri Lanka: A Cornered Tiger Is Still Deadly

May 7, 2009 by SAF Desk  
Filed under News at a glance

By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

global-securitySri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told parliament May 5 that he believes Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is among the large group of Tiger militants trapped in a 4-square kilometer coastline area near Mullaitivu. The area around Mullaitivu has been the final focal point of a recent larger government military offensive aimed at restoring government control of northeast Sri Lanka and crushing the South Asian country’s separatist rebels, who have controlled large parts of the region for the past several years. Read more

China is a threat to global good

May 6, 2009 by Susenjit Guha  
Filed under SAF blog, Susenjit Guha

china-sri lankaAs the world watches without being able to bring about a ceasefire, a humanitarian crisis is underway in Sri Lanka with nearly 170,000 civilians displaced and 50,000 trapped in the war zone. It has become common for rampaging armed forces and also those in cahoots with terrorists the world is battling with, despots and dictators to cock a snook at the UN. Much of the cockiness lies in the covert moral and logistic support lent by China, hungry for resources for widening its reach to get a major slice of business in the troubled regions and make its presence felt.

The Sri Lankan offensive against the LTTE is not faulted as the terrorist organization has used all possible means of violence over the years to foment terror in this beautiful island resembling a tear drop in the Indian Ocean. Lots of blood sweat and tears have flowed for the fight for a separate Tamil homeland in protest for the marginalization of the Sri Lankan Tamils. But the process of terror was always condemnable and has encouraged later day terror groups like the al Qaeda to emulate their suicide attack techniques. Read more