Murtaza Jafferjee

Dr Franziska Ohnsorge on Advocata Conversations | Ep.11| Murtaza Jafferjee | Dr Franziska Ohnsorge

We are back with our 11th episode of Advocata Conversations!

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact.

Our 11th episode is between Dr Franziska Ohnsorge ,Chief Economist at South Asia World Bank. She has been responsible for leading research programs on key economic issues in South Asia along with informing policy debates and World Bank lending. Prior to joining the World Bank, Franziska Ohnsorge worked in the Office of the Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and at the International Monetary Fund.

This conversation converses between Dr .Franziska and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

The conversation focuses on the Title -South Asia Development Update 2024

Dr Franziska Ohnsorge in this conversation discusses about launching the South Asia development semi annual report that the World Bank produces on the growth Outlook of the region, further focusing on occupying policy makers. She pertains to describe this year’s report mainly involves on two things ; climate adaptation and creating more jobs in the market.

A Deep Dive into the Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea

Advocata Institute hosted an event titled ‘A Deep Dive into the Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea’ to launch the report on "Market Competitiveness of the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka" authored by Sudaraka Ariyaratne (Research Consultant, Advocata Institute) The conference consisted of a panel discussion on Land & Labour Reforms : Efficiency Through Liberalisation and Quality Control & Premiumisation : Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea

Session on 'Land & Labour Reforms : Efficiency Through Liberalisation

The session commenced with a presentation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne, followed by a panel discussion with Hon. Jeevan Thondaman (Cabinet Minister, Water Supply & Estate Infrastructure Development), Dr Roshan Rajadurai (Managing Director, Hayleys Plantation Sector), Dr Romesh Bandaranaike (Former Director, Plantation Management Monitoring Division), moderated by Murtaza Jafferjee (Chair, Advocata Institute)

Session on 'Quality Control & Premiumisation : Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea’

The session continued on with another presentation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne, followed by a panel discussion with Niraj de Mel (Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tea Board), Dilhan C. Fernando (Chief Executive Officer, Ceylon Tea Services PLC), Dasarath Dassanayake (Former Head, Manufacture High Grown, John Keells PLC Consultant) moderated by Rehana Thowfeek (Research Consultant, Advocata Institute)

The presentation on Land and Labour Reforms: Efficiency Through Liberalisation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne can be accessed here

The presentation on Quality Control and Premiumisation: Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea by Sudaraka Ariyaratne can be accessed here

Both discussions will be available on our YouTube channel shortly.

Sir Roger Owen Douglas on Advocata Conversations | Ep.10 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Sir Roger Douglas

We are back with our tenth episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. This episode is between Sir Roger Owen Douglas, Former Minister of Finance, New Zealand and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee. In this conversation Sir Roger speaks about his political leadership, policy-making, and legacy. He also discusses the political and economic reforms in New Zealand and addresses tax reforms and the importance of transparency.

Check out our previous episode with Prof Chin-Huat Wong, Deputy Head (Strategy) UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University

South Asia Economic Outlook: World Bank | Infrastructure Challenges & Economic Growth | Murtaza Jafferjee | Maurizio Bussolo

In this episode of Advocata Studio, Advocata Chair, Murtaza Jafferjee is joined by Maurizio Bussolo, (Lead Economist, Chief Economist Office for South Asia, The World Bank). In this video he discusses with Murtaza Jafferjee on trade, gender inequality, and economic growth in South Asia, and its impact on productivity. He also addresses the South Asia's economic growth and infrastructure challenges.

Watch the full discussion here:

Maurizio Bussolo, (Lead Economist, Chief Economist Office for South Asia, The World Bank) also presents a report on South Asia's economic outlook, highlighting slowing growth and challenges such as weak private investment and fiscal position.

The presentation by Maurizio on South Asia Development Update: Toward faster, Cleaner Growth can be accessed here

IMF in Sri Lanka: Supporting Governance Reforms | Murtaza Jafferjee | Peter Breuer | Joel Turkewitz

In this episode of Advocata Studio, Advocata Chair, Murtaza Jafferjee is joined by representatives from the International Monetary Fund, Peter Breuer (Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, International Monetary Fund) & Joel Turkewitz (Deputy Division Chief in the Legal Department, International Monetary Fund)

The Sri Lanka Technical Assistance Report - Governance Diagnostic Assessment can be accessed here.

Prof Chin-Huat Wong on Advocata Conversations | Ep.09 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Prof Chin-Huat Wong

We are back with our ninth episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our ninth episode is between Prof Chin-Huat Wong, Deputy Head (Strategy) UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee. He has been a keen observer of Malaysian politics for more than 25 years, and was active in the civil society-based Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) for 17 years after his recent retired.

Check out our previous episode with Iain Rennie, Managing Director of Iain Rennie Consulting and the Former State Services Commissioner of New Zealand

Iain Rennie on Advocata Conversations | Ep.08 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Iain RennieI

We are back with our eight episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our eight episode is between Iain Rennie, Managing Director of Iain Rennie Consulting and the Former State Services Commissioner of New Zealand and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

Check out our previous episode with Dr Irvin Studin, founder, editor-in-chief, publisher of Global Brief magazine, & the president of The Institute for 21st Century Questions, a leading Canadian think tank

Dr Irvin Studin on Advocata Conversations | Ep.07 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Dr Irvin Studin

We are back with our seventh episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our seventh episode is between Dr Irvin Studin, founder, editor-in-chief, publisher of Global Brief magazine, & the president of The Institute for 21st Century Questions, a leading Canadian think tank and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

Note that this is the audio of the conversation between Murtaza & Dr Studin.

Check out our previous episode with Dr Swarnim Waglé, an Elected Member of Federal Parliament of Nepal and former Chief Economic Advisor at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) in New York

Dr Swarnim Waglé on Advocata Conversations | Ep.06 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Dr Swarnim Waglé

We are back with our sixth episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact.

Our sixth episode is between Dr Swarnim Waglé, an Elected Member of Federal Parliament of Nepal and former Chief Economic Advisor at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) in New York and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee. Dr Swarnim Waglé discusses his journey from joining the The World Bank and the UNDP in Asia and the Pacific in New York to becoming an elected Member of Federal Parliament in Nepal. He also further explores on the economic developments of countries in South Asia like Vietnam, Pakistan and Nepal.

Check out our previous episode with Dr Reza Baqir, the Former Governor, State Bank of Pakistan and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

It’s time for urgent economic reforms

Originally appeared on Daily FT, The Morning, Ada derana Biz , Lanka News Web

It’s time for urgent economic reforms 

  • Sri Lanka faces one of the worst economic crises in its history.

  • COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the existing weaknesses in the economy, the roots lie in unsustainable debt, fiscal indiscipline and low rates of growth. 

  • To get out of the crisis comprehensive and deep economics reforms that are structured to a clear timeline is needed, says top Economists. 

Sri Lanka should carry out urgent and credible economic reforms to create a stable environment to emerge from one of the worst economic crises in its history triggered by unsustainable spending, debt and stifling controls, a panel of economists said.

“There is no doubt that Sri Lanka is facing a severe economic crisis. Macroeconomic stabilization is the need of the hour ” said Dr. Roshan Perera,  Senior Research Fellow at Advocata Institute, Colombo-based think tank .  She made these comments  at an online event to launch Advocate's latest publication, ‘A Framework for Economic Recovery’.  She provided a breakdown of the economic challenges before the economy. In her presentation, Dr. Perera stressed the need for immediate reforms to tackle unsustainable public debt. 

The report identifies that the macro-economic instability lies in the failure of the state to implement deep structural reforms to the economy for nearly twenty years. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed Sri Lanka’s fundamental weaknesses that have plagued the economy for a long period of time. The event included comments from experts on Advocata Institute’s board of advisors. 

“None of these policy prescriptions are new. We have talked about them for years. But it's a matter of political will to do them. We have hit a brick wall and we need to come together as a whole and take responsibility,” Advocata’s Academic Chair Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana said.

“We need to think of the external balance not only for today but for tomorrow. We have to grow our way out of debt as opposed to starving ourselves out of debt” said Dr. Nishan de Mel, Executive Director of Verite Research and an advisor to Advocata.  Highlighting the importance of getting the balance right on growth and austerity in dealing with the crisis. 

Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Chairperson, LIRNEASIA and an advisor of the Advocata, explained the urgency of deep structural reforms by describing the present economic challenge. “We are in a war-like situation”. He said, stressing that what we need is a common minimum program of reform agreed by many.  “Identify the key sectors - utilities and trade which would play a huge role in the economy to build confidence. We would have to bring back parts of the 19th amendment”. He said, highlighting the importance of political reform facilitating better economic outcomes. 

Research shows that Sri Lanka needs structural readjustment. “ Sri Lanka needs some bitter policy doses at this level to get the economy back on track. We haven’t touched policy reforms for over 20 years, for which we are paying now. And we are looking for short term solutions for a long term problem”, said Professor Sirimal Abeyrathne, Senior Professor of Economics, University of Colombo.

Advocata’s report,  A Framework for Economic Recovery, consists of a series of urgent macroeconomic reforms to address the present crisis. This includes the implementation of a macroeconomic stabilization program, prioritising fiscal consolidation and debt restructuring,  public finance management and public sector reforms.  Other reforms include state-owned enterprise reform, enhancing monetary policy effectiveness and maintaining a flexible exchange rate. 

Trade reform to strengthen exchange rate sustainability.  Other structural reforms such as land reform, improving ease of doing business and bridging infrastructure gaps to boost productivity and achieve growth. Advocata Chairs, Mr. Murtaza Jafferjee, Dr Sarath Rajapatirana, Mr. Dhananath Fernando, COO Advocata Institute and key advisors, Prof. Suri Ratnapala,  Professor of Law, University of Queensland, Anarkali Moonesinghe, Board Member Lankan Angel Network, Dr. Sujata Gamage,  Senior Research Fellow, LIRNEASIA, Dr. Nishan De Mel, Executive Director at Verité Research, Prof.Prema-Chandra Athokorala, Emeritus Professor of Economics, ANU, spoke extensively on each of these areas of reform, while expressing concern over the present economic crisis.  

Media coverage on " A Framework for Economic Recovery"

Sri Lanka’s Possibility of Debt Default is Real

Sri Lanka’s possibility of debt default is real, the Colombo-based public policy think tank Advocata Institute said, yesterday. Launching its latest publication, “A framework for Economic Recovery”, Advocata’s Senior Research fellow Dr. Roshan Perera said that the country is facing one of the worst macroeconomic crises in its history and with rapidly depleting foreign reserves position and the Government’s limited options to finance its foreign debt service obligations will adversely affect the nation’s debt sustainability. Therefore, they urged the policy makers to identify, prevent and address macroeconomic imbalances that could adversely affect the economic stability of the country. 

Sri Lanka’s economy has been characterised by twin deficits, i.e., it has run both a fiscal deficit and a deficit in the external current account. This implies that the country has been spending and consuming more than it earns and produces. 

“Priority should be given to correcting the twin deficits, stimulating economic growth and improving competitiveness while building buffers to strengthen the resilience of the economy to shocks”, it stated. According to their observations, fiscal dominance has been the root cause for macroeconomic instability adversely affecting growth, inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate. Fiscal indiscipline has also significantly narrowed the space for monetary policy.

 “Weak public finance management arising from inadequate revenue collection and uncontrolled expenditure has meant the Government has continued to run budget deficits, relying on borrowings to finance the shortfall. This has led to high and unsustainable debt levels,” the report stated. According to the Advocata, completing the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme entered into with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 would be imperative to restoring macroeconomic stability.

Read the full article here

Top panel sounds alarm, insists it’s time for urgent economic reforms

Sri Lanka should carry out urgent and credible economic reforms to create a stable environment to emerge from one of the worst economic crises in its history triggered by unsustainable spending, debt and stifling controls, a panel of economists said.

“There is no doubt that Sri Lanka is facing a severe economic crisis. Macroeconomic stabilisation is the need of the hour,” said Advocata Institute Senior Research Fellow Dr. Roshan Perera, addressing the online event to launch Advocata’s latest publication, ‘A Framework for Economic Recovery’. Advocata is a Colombo-based think tank.

Providing a breakdown of the economic challenges before the economy, in her presentation Dr. Perera stressed on the need for immediate reforms to tackle unsustainable public debt.

The report identifies that the macro-economic instability lies in the failure of the State to implement deep structural economic reforms for nearly 20 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed fundamental weaknesses that have plagued Sri Lanka’s economy for a long period of time.

The event included comments from experts on Advocata Institute’s Board of Advisors.

“None of these policy prescriptions are new. We have talked about them for years, but it's a matter of political will to implement them. We have hit a brick wall and we need to come together as a whole and take responsibility,” Advocata’s Academic Chair Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana said.

Read the full article here

Economists call for an extensive review of the tax system to improve revenue mobilisation

An improvement in Sri Lanka’s revenue mobilisation effort requires an urgent and extensive review of the tax system, to ensure the government can meet its expenditure commitments, while the country is in the midst of one of the worst macroeconomic crises in its history, economists said.


Pointing out that the national economy is heading towards a “precipice”, Colombo-based economic think-tank Advocata Institute asserted in its latest publication titled ‘A Framework for National Recovery,’ that the “serious erosion” in government revenue and its implications for macroeconomic stability call for a comprehensive review of the tax system.


According to the report, some of the areas that require attention include; reducing the tax threshold and widening the tax base, reintroducing the PAYE and WHT, reducing the excessive reliance on indirect tax as it is currently at about 80 percent, rationalising tax incentives, introducing new taxes, and strengthening the tax administration.


Currently, the income tax threshold in Sri Lanka is four times its per capita GDP, and also higher than the tax threshold in countries with per capita incomes that are several times that are of the island nation. The report recommends bringing down the threshold while also adopting measures to bring in employees into the formal sector so the tax base is widened.

Read the full article here

Key Ways to Boost Revenue

Making tax administration technology driven, instituting land tax and removing tax exemptions are among three ways that Sri Lanka can boost revenue, Advocata Institute, a think tank, in a recent report, said. The think tank in a report titled ‘A Framework for Economic recovery’ dated July said that Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) revenue which was 21 per cent of GDP in 1990 was averaging 15 per cent during the period 2005-2009. ‘This has plummeted even further to around eight per cent by 2020,’ it added. The key revenue earner for GoSL is taxation. ‘Further, around 80 per cent of tax revenue collected in 2020 was from indirect taxes, increasing the regressivity of the tax system, with lower income earners bearing a higher burden of taxation,’ the report warned. 

There is also a significant concentration of taxes collected from a few commodities such as tobacco, liquor, motor vehicles, and food and beverages, said Advocata. This also increases the regressivity of the tax system as some of these are considered essential items and form a higher proportion of the consumption basket of low income earners, the think tank further warned. In order to broaden the tax base, new taxes such as land taxes should be introduced, the think tank advocated. Meanwhile, despite commissions set up to review the tax system, as well as donor funded programmes initiated to address the weaknesses in tax administration there, has been very little progress on this front, said Advocata.

Read the full article

Look at options to meet debt obligations - Advocata Report

An independent policy think tank launching its latest publication; “A Framework for Economic Recovery” in Colombo last week called on policymakers to pay serious attention to consider all  options available to meet the country’s debt obligations which is in the tune of around US $25 billion in foreign debt between now and 2026.  The report by the Advocata Institute presents a framework for macroeconomic stabilisation and emphasises the need for urgent economic reforms. The panel comprising well-known economists and heads of think tanks urged policymakers to look at all options to meet the obligations as there could be a possibility of defaulting on debt obligations which would reflect badly on the country.

The urgency to seek ways and means to meet the obligations or restructure debt was underpinned due to the fast depleting  foreign reserves estimated at US $ 2.8 billion as at the end  July this year, foreign inflows affected by the pandemic and negative investor sentiments. 

The author of the report and Senior Research fellow of Advocata, Dr. Roshan Perera said debt restructuring is not an easy task and added that the possibility of resuming a program with the International Monetary Fund should be looked into.

Read the full article

Defaulting debt repayment can have severe repercussions

Sri Lanka has been running deficits over the decades following the post- independence period when the fiscal deficit was over 10 percent of the GDP.

In 2020 it exceeded 10 percent of the GDP and is likely to deteriorate in 2021. “If the government continues to consume more than it earns or when the domestic private savings are not sufficient to finance the economy it can reflect in our current account deficit. In the absence of domestic saving, the country has to depend on foreign savings to bridge the current deficit,” said Dr. Roshan Perera, Senior Research Fellow of the Advocata Institute at the launch of a publication on “Framework of Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery at a webinar held this week.

She said in the absence of FDIs coming into the country Sri Lanka had to borrow from abroad. In the 2000 period funds came mostly from bilateral and multilateral sources and concessional financing. But these funds ceased when the country’s rating was elevated to a middle- income country status. When Sri Lanka embarked on infrastructure projects in later years, it had to borrow from private lending agencies and international sovereign bonds with shorter grace periods with higher interest rates. This had an impact on debt service payment which has ballooned over the years. With low foreign inflows coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, debt servicing has been a challenge, she added.

Read full article

Poor economic performance linked to poor economic governance: Experts

Sri Lanka’s poor performance across multiple areas in the economy is linked to the economic governance of the country weakening over the years, despite an ever expanding public sector, according to some leading economists and practitioners of law in the country.

As having the right institutional strength is essential and imperative for an economy to prosper in the medium to long term, top economists and legal practitioners this week attributed the repeated issues faced by the country to the grim economic governance, which remains unaddressed and unacknowledged.

According to Emeritus Professor of Public Law Suri Ratnapala, a starting point for Sri Lanka in this regard would be to initiate the process of rebuilding institutions of the state, judiciary, enforcement agencies and auxiliary organisations that support the legal system.

Read full article

Addressing Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic imbalances 

We are 18 months into the pandemic but the policymakers are yet to announce a proper programme to save Sri Lanka from the economic crisis it is currently facing now. Although many policymakers blame the Covid-19 pandemic for the current economic situation, by now many have realised the pandemic just unveiled the curtain behind which all the troubles of Sri Lanka’s economic system were kept hidden. 

Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute, on 14 September unveiled a Framework it has prepared for Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery. The report was prepared by Advocata Institute Senior Research Fellow and Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) former employee Dr. Roshan Perera. 

Presenting the report, she said that for consumers and producers to be able to make long-term decisions there needs to be stability in the economy and highlighted what is really meant by stability. 

Read full article

Resolving the economic crisis and facing challenges with reforms

Dr. Rajapatirana pointed out that Sri Lanka’s trade as a percentage of GDP has been low compared to Thailand and Vietnam because we have not exploited our opportunity to trade as we have high tariff rates compared to other developing countries.

Furthermore, although tariffs play a role in protecting domestic infant industries, if tariffs are too high, they can become anti-competitive. Dr. Rajapatirana observed that recent import restrictions, such as banning a wide range of consumer goods from April 2020, have further worsened Sri Lanka’s growth potential and put Sri Lanka at odds with WTO rules.

Read full article

Sri Lanka cronies profiting from import controls, SMEs battered: Samarajiva

Sri Lanka’s so-called cronies who benefit from customers trapped under state controls are raking even more profits from current import controls, while smaller firms are getting wiped out, a policy specialist and liberator of poorer consumers said.

Many domestic businesses also needed inputs.

“Import controls are creating a lot of opportunities for permit holders and cronies to make money,” Rohan Samarajiva, founder of LirneAsia, a regional policy advisory group told a forum organized by Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based think tank.

Read full article

Is economic recovery possible?

“The economy should grow steadily and sustainably. It should have a sound financial system, be resilient to shocks with inflation under control,” said Dr. Roshan Perera, Senior Research Fellow of the Advocata Institute during a recent webinar on building a framework for economic recovery in Sri Lanka. Explaining that in the economical environment, there are internal and external imbalances to be found, she said internal imbalance consists of issues such as the government spending limitlessly, too much money in the economy and uncertainty. Whereas external balance means a combination of inflation and exchange rates that makes imports more attractive and exports uncompetitive. This includes abrupt changes in the exchange rates that call for financial assistance and in the extreme defaulting on payments to the rest of the world, she explained.

Read the full article


A Framework for Economic Recovery

The Advocata Institute launched its latest publication on "A Framework for Economic Recovery" on September 14 at 3.30 PM.

This report can be accessed below.

A Framework for Economic Recovery” Report

The report authored by Advocata’s Senior Research fellow Dr. Roshan Perera and Advocata’s research team proposes key policy recommendations to overcome these challenges. The report presents a  framework for macroeconomic stabilization and emphasizes the need for urgent economic reforms.

The presentation by Dr. Roshan Perera on "A Framework for Economic Recovery" can be accessed below.

"A Framework for Economic Recovery" Presentation

The launch was virtually held with the attendance of the press and was live-streamed on Advocata Institutes social media channels.

Watch the live discussion on Advocata Institutes YouTube channel

Key speakers included; Advocata Academic Chair, Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, Advocata Chair, Murtaza Jafferjee, Dhananath Fernando (COO Advocata Institute) and key advisors, Prof. Rohan Samarajiva ( Chairperson, LIRNEASIA), Prof. Suri Ratnapala ( Professor of Law, University of Queensland), Anarkali Moonesinghe ( Board Member Lankan Angel Network), Dr. Sujata Gamage, ( Senior Research Fellow, LIRNEASIA) and Prof.Prema-Chandra Athokorala (Emeritus Professor of Economics, ANU).

Diagnosis of Sri Lanka's Current Economic Crises and Potential Solutions

Advocata Institute Chair Murtaza Jafferjee on the “Diagnosis of Sri Lanka's Current Economic Crisis and Potential Solutions” organized by CFA Society Sri Lanka on September 10th 2021.

Download the full presentation:

Diagnosis of Sri Lanka’s Current Economic Crisis

Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Advocata Conversations | Ep.01 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Dr Sarath Rajapatirana

The Advocata Institute launches its episode on Advocata Conversations, the new series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights of experienced policymakers on policy reforms and its impact.

Our first episode is between Advocata Chairperson, Murtaza Jafferjee, Advocata Academic Advisor, Dr. Sarath Rajapathirana, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission of India.

In this episode, he discusses his experiences working with the Indian government, his expertise on the economy, his family, and his latest work as a writer.

Watch the full discussion here.

Read the transcript for the full discussion here.

Watch this video on Youtube 

Advocata Conversations Pricing Fuel & Energy : Lessons From India with Dr Narayan and Murtaza Jafferjee-

The Advocata Institute hosted a live conversation with Dr S Narayan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Petroleum and Industrial Development | Former Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of India and Murtaza Jafferjee, Chair of Advocata Institute on 'Pricing Fuel and Energy: Lessons From India'. The conversation was live-streamed on ZOOM, Facebook and Youtube on Thursday, June 24 at 10.30 AM.

Click here to watch the full conversation

Click here to access the presentation by Murtaza Jafferjee

Click here to access the updated presentation by Murtaza Jafferjee

Click here to access the updated presentation 20/02/2022

Murtaza Jafferjee on Face the Nation: Overcoming Sri Lanka's economic woes

Murtaza Jafferjee Chair of Advocata Institute was featured on the News1st Face the Nation: Overcoming Sri Lanka's economic woes that was aired on the 14th of April 2021.

'It is a pity that we have been playing politics with fuel prices. The first time I recollect a fuel pricing formula was put into operation was back in the early 2000s. In 2005 this program was suspended by the new government. It's by far the single largest component of our import bill. So it's vital that we price it correctly. This price increase was long overdue. Even now we are running at a loss.' - Murtaza Jafferjee

Click here to watch the full video:

Murtaza Jafferjee on Face the Nation: Port City Economic Commission Bill, the good, the bad and the ugly

Murtaza Jafferjee Chairman of Advocata Institute was featured on the News1st Face the Nation: Port City Economic Commission Bill, the good, the bad and the ugly programme that was aired on the 19th of April 2021. Murtaza comments on the Good and the Bad of port city and why do we need the Port City workaround

Click here to watch the full video:

Is the Economy in Peril? Sri Lanka's National Debt

Murtaza Jafferjee Chairman and Dhananath Fernando, Chief Operating Officer of the Advocata Institute participated in an exclusive News 1st discussion on the topic “IS THE ECONOMY IN PERIL?” with Chandra Jayaratne Former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Dr. W. A. Wijewardhena Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

To access the opening presentation by Dhananath Fernando

Click here to watch

Low revenue growth, main reason for primary deficit – Advocata Chairman

Covered by Ceylon Today

“Post-independence Sri Lanka has continuously had a fiscal deficit, while it had a Primary Balance surplus only in 1954, 1955, 2017 and 2018,” stated Advocata Chairman Murtaza Jafferjee while speaking on Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability. 

However, the primary balance situation reversed in 2019 due to the Easter Sunday tragedy, and a broad primary deficit is expected in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, Jafferjee cautioned. 

“Civil wars, insurgencies, populist election promises are some of the reasons for fiscal deficits to emerge. However, Sri Lanka’s high Primary deficit is due to low revenue in comparison to excessive spending. Twenty years ago, revenue formed 20% of GDP, which has been reduced to 13% currently. Relative to the rate of expansion of the economy, revenue did not keep up,” he noted.

He said, “Except for Bangladesh, all other countries in the region have higher revenue percentages to GDP than Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, except for India, regional countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia all have had lower fiscal deficits than us according to 2018 data.” 

Jafferjee suggests fiscal consolidation as a solution to improve the government’s fiscal position and reduce debt to GDP. He suggested however that the government should implement this in a structured manner over a period of time. Size, pace, duration and the composition of fiscal adjustment should be done systematically as failure to do so could lead to economic disaster or political instability, explains Jafferjee.  

“In a country such as ours asking people to pay higher taxes all of a sudden may lead to lost political capital. The degree of adjustment is highly dependent on economic and political circumstances. In the short term, fiscal consolidation may lead to lower GDP growth. 

In periods like pandemic situations, higher fiscal consolidation could be disastrous. It would reduce aggregate demand, which in turn can lead to low tax revenue. “

Jafferjee further notes that the least distortionary tax measure could be a wealth tax, which Sri Lanka doesn’t currently possess. He noted that over the past decade our credit growth was higher than the money supply, and has also significantly outpaced nominal GDP growth, irrespective of whether it was a loose or contractionary economic policy. 

“Credit drives the economy, fund’s investments and the economy. Credit growth hasn’t boosted economic growth or nominal GDP. This could be due to the investment in real estate, leading to a spike in land prices.”

The Chairman noted that the expansion of credit was evident for over a decade across multiple sectors including loans and leases, which could have been used to buy real estate. He claimed that there were no taxes on land, despite Sri Lanka’s direct taxes being low. “Indirect taxation accounts for 75% of total tax revenue, which is highly regressive, meaning tax is applied uniformly, imposing a higher burden on low-income earners than high-income earners.

As per Central Bank data, real estate prices in the Colombo District have increased over 170% in the last ten years and 95% in the last five. It’s time that policymakers think of collecting property taxes excluding lower value ones,” noted Jafferjee.  

Deep Dive EP 1. 3 : How Can We Improve Debt Sustainability in Sri Lanka | A Primer on Economic Growth

The Advocata Institute launched its latest public policy discussion series 'DeepDive'. This series commenced with several discussions on the topic "How can we improve Sri Lanka's Debt Sustainability?".

The discussion series kickstarted with three-part primers by Mr. Murtaza Jafferjee, Chairman of the Advocata Institute.

Print media partner - Daily FT

This is the final part of a three-part primer.

Click here to access the presentation by Mr. Murtaza Jafferjee

To watch the Primer on Debt Sustainability

To watch the Primer on Fiscal Performance

Watch this video on Youtube