Treasury Secy. gets advisor to chart long-term economic revival path

• 10-year economic blueprint to be presented to parliament with UNDP support 

A top economist has been appointed to advise the Treasury Secretary and assist him to chart a path for the economy beset by multiple crises while the government is working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to set up a research unit to enable data-driven decisions going forward. 

Finance Minister Ali Sabry told parliament last week that a decision was made to appoint a top economist to help the Treasury Secretary to take decisions concerning the medium to long-term economic trajectory of the country rather than just engaging in mundane tasks. According to Sabry, currently, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana’s entire time is consumed to resolve the dollar crisis and finding money to pay salaries and other government bills, 

which leaves no time for him to develop strategies for the future.  “If not, from morning till evening he deals with issues like how to find dollars, how to find money to pay salaries of the State sector workers and if and how much to print (money) and things like that,” Sabry said. He however didn’t reveal the name of the economist who would be appointed to assist Siriwardana.  Meanwhile, Sabry also said his Ministry has engaged with the UNDP to establish a research unit for the ministry, which can assist him to make more informed and data-driven decisions on the economy going forward. 

“This unit will have experts on economy and will provide data to assist and guide the decisions coming from the Finance Ministry, he said.  Sabry’s remarks indicate that Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry has operated thus far with the absence of proper data despite it being the top most ministry of the government that makes decisions affecting every person of the country. Sabry further said with UNDP support, he intends to draft a 10-year economic renaissance blueprint and present it to parliament, which can then be debated and executed by the Finance Ministry.