The DDR, long-term sustainability and corruption

Government plans for restructuring of the domestic debt are now out in the open and have been approved by the Cabinet of ministers. One is left wondering why the matter is being put to a vote in parliament, given that the issue is not a budgetary issue and does not need parliamentary approval.   

Whatever the outcome, with or without amendments, the implementation of the measures to reconstruct the domestic debt will come into force. Whether the proposed measures to reconstruct the debt is sufficient to attain long-term sustainability, only time will tell.   

However, the proposed measures have been praised by the business community, as the measures would not jolt the banking system and therefore would not result in a down-turn in the economy.   

The city-based middle class by and large have remained indifferent to the issue and see it more as an issue highlighted by the media.   

In the rural areas where the majority of the people live, people do not have large sums of cash in fixed deposits, which are more or less limited to city dwellers. The DDR to them is a non issue. Fixed wage earners whose retirement funds are held with the EPF and ETF have worried over the fate of their life savings, but the main opposition parties the SJB and the JVP failed to explain their antipathy and or aversion to the proposed DDR to their membership. Therefore opposition to the proposed measures continues to be minimal.   

Again the largest body of unionised workers, the tea and rubber plantation workers union is with the government.   

The TNA the largest party in the north and east has emphasized, the economic position of the country demands the domestic debt be reconstructed, but calls for the more vulnerable sections of society be protected from adverse effects which could result from the measures.   

In the ultimate, opposition to the domestic debt reconstruction is now limited to the two major opposition parties the SJB and the JVP.   

Sadly, once again, the main opposition parties have failed to rouse popular support for their antipathy and aversion towards the proposed DDR measures. Neither have they forwarded any definite plans if any, to get the country out of its present state of bankruptcy and ensure that we never fall into that situation once again.  Talk of getting back the monies allegedly stashed by our corrupt politicians in tax havens and money laundering hotspots are merely, attempts to pull wool over the eyes of the people.   
According to wealthbriefing.com the UK ranks second among global money laundering hotspots, with an estimated £88 billion ($119 billion) laundered each and every year. In the US, the figure stands at £216.5 billion laundered every year -by far the highest sum among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.   

It is estimated that worldwide, the total sum of money laundered annually equates to as much as 3 per cent of global GDP –a huge £1.8 trillion, according to new figures from identity verification service Credas. France (£54.5 billion), Germany (£51.3 billion) and Canada (£25.6 billion) also rank within the top five money laundering countries.   

Are we so naive as to expect that if these so-called developed countries, who hold themselves up as paragons of virtue, are actively involved in money laundering, lesser countries involved in this criminal activity are going to return the allegedly stolen wealth of our country?   

Any stolen wealth is now part and parcel of the economy of those countries. The sooner our politicians wake up to this reality the better.   

Let us stop deceiving ourselves. Let us even at this late stage work together to pull our country out of the economic mess we are in.   

Those who bled the country dry, are still in places of power and control the heights of our economy. Can we believe that these self-same individuals will lay the groundwork to help the president successfully restructure the economy of the country?   

It sounds akin to expecting a leopard to change its spots. While restructuring the economy, we also need to restructure the system in this country which not only breeds corruption, but continues to let these individuals continue in positions of power.   

A failure to do this simply means a continuation of the same.