CCC wants govt. to embrace more consultative approach to policymaking

• Proposes establishment of a national level committee chaired by President
• Presents an ‘Economic Revival Action Plan’ consisting of short and medium-term strategies
• Stresses need for promoting an environment of policy predictability

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) this week urged the government to embrace a more consultative approach in charting the way forward and creating a conducive environment for local business to operate, by forming a national level committee.

Newly-elected CCC Chairman Vish Govindaswamy said that an appeal has already been made to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to establish a national level committee that would specifically focus on policy formulation, review and implementation.

A paper has been presented to the President outlining a framework for rethinking a consultative and research-based approach in making key policy and regulatory decisions and their implementation.

While the framework proposes the committee to be chaired by President Rajapaksa, the CCC stressed the need to have senior policymakers and nominees from the private sector on board as well. A broader set of experts and line ministry officials could be invited to the committee on a subject-specific basis, the chamber suggested.

The proposed national committee will focus on five key areas: agenda setting, policy analysis, strategy and policy development, policy enactment and implementation and monitoring and evaluation.

“This way, any policy that the government takes will be based on a lot of data available. We volunteered also to use our economic intelligence unit to give as much as data on the policies that the government would like to make. 

This way, there will be a discussion and then the strategy and policy development that can go on,” said Govindaswamy during his first address as CCC Chairman.

He shared that the President was open to the proposal and showed his consideration for the request.

Furthermore, with a view of achieving a sustainable growth rate of over 5 percent and stability in macroeconomic variables such as currency, inflation and interest rates, the CCC has prepared a paper for economic revival, with the aim of improving its balance of payments and fiscal position.

The ‘Economic Revival Action Plan’, which entails short and medium-term strategies, was presented to Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. 

Some of the key components of the proposal include the increasing of interest rates to 50 basis points, as it would reduce the interest rate arbitrage between interest rates for US dollar fixed deposit rates and local rupee deposit rates. 

Following the increase in interest rate, the CCC stressed the need for greater exchange rate flexibility, to ease the pressure on the currency while intervening to curb high volatility when needed. 

The chamber highlighted the need to reintroduce the time-tested methods of PAYE and WHT to improve revenue collection in addition to other measures to improve revenue administration.

In the medium term, the chamber suggested the need for the government to institutionalise the process of improving its ranking with a permanent secretariat to fast-track the reforms required.

While calling for consistent efforts in promoting an “environment of policy predictability”, with increased stakeholder consultation prior to making important policy shifts, which will help boost investor confidence, the chamber highlighted the importance of increasing exports to generate new employment, new activity and reduce pressure on current account currency.