Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

1 | DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVESEconomic Policy in Briefkasri lanka the emerging wonder of asia – mahinda Chintana Vision for the futuresri lankathe emerging wonder of asiamahinda ChintanaVision for the futurethe DeVeLoPMent PoLiCY frAMeWorKGoVernMent of sri LAnKAdePartment of national PlanningministrY of finanCe and PlanningThe Development Policy Frameworkof the Government –“Sri Lanka Emerging Wonder ofAsia: Mahinda Chintana – Vision for theFuture” – presents the country’s economicpolicy strategies, actions andthe roadmap for the next six years.This policy framework which hasbeen developed based on the keyprinciples in the “Mahinda Chintana –Towards a New Sri Lanka, 2005” andthe “Mahinda Chintana - Vision for theFuture 2010,” was tabled in Parliamentalong with the 2011 Budget inNovember 2010. The principle target ofthe strategy is to double the per capitaincome from USD 2,399 in 2010 inexcess of USD 4,000 in 2016 in orderto position Sri Lanka as a strong middleincome country. The main economictargets that have been set in the policyframework are shown in Table 1.1 alongwith recent trends.The economic development philosophyof Mahinda Chintana is that economicgrowth alone would not bringprosperity to the society but social,cultural, religious and environmentaldevelopment are equally important.It blends social justice and economicviability as opposed to policies followedprior to 2005 which were either biasedtowards economic viability at a cost ofsocial justice, or social justice at a costof economic viability.Table 1.1 > Main Socio Economic TargetsTarget Unit 2005 2010 (Est) 2010 Actual 2016 (Proj)GDP USD bn 24.4 49.1 56.0 98.0Per Capita Income USD 1,241 2,375 2,399 4,470Inflation - GDP Deflator % 5.7 7.0 7.3 4.0Exports USD bn 6.3 8.0 8.3 18.0International Trade Turnover USD bn 15.2 21.3 22.8 44.1International Service Income USD bn 0.3 0.6 0.7 2.6Earnings from Tourism USD bn 0.3 0.5 0.5 2.5Remittances USD bn 2.0 3.8 4.1 7.0Access to Electricity % 75 88 88 100Access to Telecommunication % 23.6 85 100.8 100Women in Labour Force % 32.6 34.3 31.2 40Unemployment % 7.2 5.3 4.9 3.2Infant Mortality Per 1,000 11.2 10.9 8.5 4.0Maternal Mortality Per 1,000 0.45 0.39 0.33 0.2Poverty Headcount % 15.2 7.6 7.6 4.2Primary School Enrolment % 95.0 98.0 99 100Literacy Rate (15-24 years) % 95.0 97.0 97 98.0Literacy Rate -Computer % 9.7 20.3 20.3 75.0Source: Ministry of Finance & Planning22