Addressing the Human Capital Ministerial meeting at the World Bank, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe emphasized that human capital will remain at the core of the development and growth process going forward in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka’s historical achievements in human development are well known. In 2021, Sri Lanka’s Human Capital Index score stood at 60, higher than the South Asian and global averages.” 

“However, the COVID-19 pandemic created a multitude of challenges for the entire world,” he said, attending the Human Capital Ministerial meeting held during the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington.

Despite the fact of being a small open economy with accumulated economic vulnerabilities at the onset of the pandemic, the government of Sri Lanka provided the necessary support for the people and businesses, although the challenges the country faced continued to increase, the state minister stressed.

Those challenges multiplied with food and energy shocks within the past year. Rising inflation and shortages in basic food, fuel, and essential items started severely affecting the general public and pushing more and more households into poverty. This resulted in economic and political unrest in the past few months, he said.

“At present, the new administration is working with the IMF, World Bank, and other multilateral and bilateral development partners to stabilize the economy, and we have made significant progress in these efforts.” 

Many of these adjustments, although essential, would be more painful to the general public in the short term, Mr. Semasinghe said, adding that these adjustments require targeted support for the poor and vulnerable households as well as those who are newly at risk of falling below the poverty line.

He further said that in order to provide immediate relief, the government, with the special assistance of the World Bank, has initiated a process of cash transfers to the vulnerable groups and is providing cooking gas, fertilizer, and medicine. 

“In addition, it is essential to deepen and widen the social safety nets that we already have. Therefore, we have started reforms to make the social protection schemes more adaptive and scannable with improved identification and targeting, while facilitating smooth graduation out of the safety net eventually.”

The state minister of finance said that these measures are taken to protect the vulnerable human capital base that Sri Lanka has developed over the years. 

“Protecting and strengthening this human capital base is crucial for countries like Sri Lanka, as human capital will remain at the core of the development and growth process going forward.”

While addressing the Human Capital Ministerial meeting at the #WorldBank emphasized that human capital will remain at the core of the development and growth process going forward in #SriLanka pic.twitter.com/qo3JXCKQDb

— Shehan Semasinghe (@ShehanSema) October 16, 2022