Ministerial Portfolio

Advocata welcomes full time Minister of Finance for Sri Lanka’s Public Finances

Originally appeared in the Daily FT and Daily Mirror

An independent Minister of Finance can lead the way for better management of Public Finances.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka— For 23 of the last 30 years, the Head of Government in Sri Lanka has simultaneously held the title of Minister of Finance.  Experience shows that combining the two roles is usually a big mistake as the job of the Head of Government is already very demanding. It is almost impossible for any one person to combine that with being an effective Minister of Finance. The tasks associated with being the Head of Government almost always gain priority.  Secondly, an effective Minister of Finance needs to maintain fiscal discipline by resisting pressures from the political office. The head of government who is also the head of a party or coalition cannot simultaneously meet this requirement due to such conflicting priorities. 

 Analysis of Sri Lanka’s public finances further provides convincing evidence that the absence of a dedicated Minister of Finance has undermined revenue collection. From post independence to around 1990, Sri Lanka’s tax revenue averaged over 20 per cent. At present Sri Lanka has one of the lowest income tax rates compared to peer countries as well as a tax threshold which is several times its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita.

The Advocata Institute, therefore, welcomes the government decision to appoint a dedicated Minister of Finance.

Key Points:

  • A dedicated Minister of Finance is beneficial to effective public Finance management.

  • The Advocata Institute welcomes the appointment of a full-time Minister of Finance.

  • Poor public finance management and poor revenue collection are partly a result of a lack of a dedicated Minister of Finance.

  • Understanding the seriousness of the present crisis and utilising pragmatic public policies is the way forward.

[1] The Political Economy of Long-Term Revenue Decline in Sri Lanka, Mick Moore, ICTD Working Paper 65, February 2017

 

Dr Sujata Gamage comments on the allocation of portfolios for ministers

Dr. Sujata Gamage Advisor to the Advocata Institute was featured on "Pathikada" that was aired on the 13th of August. Dr. Gamage commented on the allocation of portfolios for ministers, the role of state ministers, district coordinating committees, the number of ministers appointed, and the way forward.

Advocata ආයතනයට උපදේශිකවරියක් වන ආචාර්ය සුජාතා ගමගේගේ "පැතිකඩ" වැඩසටහනට අගෝස්තු 13 වන දින සම්බන්ද වන ලදී. අමාත්‍යවරුන් සඳහා අමාත්‍යංශ වෙන් කිරීම, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්ගේ කාර්යභාරය, දිස්ත්‍රික් සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු, පත්කරන ලද අමාත්‍යවරුන් සංඛ්‍යාව සහ ලංකාව ඉදිරියට යා යුත්තේ කෙසේද යන්න පිලිබඳ එතුමිය අදහස් දැක්වීය.