COL handling weak, state borrowings too excessive

A cross- section of Sri Lankans in the island is agreed on two key economic fundamentals: The cost of living is poorly tackled and government borrowings here and abroad are too excessive, an island-wide opinion poll by the Business Times (BT) and Research& Consultancy Bureau (RCB) shows.

Minimizing corruption was also cited as a means of reducing the budget deficit.

The pre-budget poll covering the districts of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Kurunegala, Badulla and Ratnapura, aimed at assessing the people’s needs and aspirations in next month’s budget, threw up another interesting statistic.

Asked for the ‘most, urgent need in the budget expectations towards a family’s development’, the joint BT-RCB poll showed that in Colombo the majority (94.3 per cent) wanted the cost of living to come down while in all other provinces the majority vote was for a wage hike.

Sociologists, analyzing this particular data, said it appeared the cost of living was not an issue outside Colombo and a probable reason why the President and his party continues to be a popular option for the people.

“For most people living out of the capital, food and other essentials would be cheaper in addition to having fresh home garden produce while the wage hike demand could be to meet other needs including improving the quality of life,” one analyst said, adding however that such data needs to be more scientifically studied before a comprehensive assessment is made

While the RCB poll covered 1,317 respondents in the eight districts with questions asked on the street, the BT poll on email resulted in 300 responses.

The BT-RCB pre-budget survey is a regular exercise undertaken for the past two years and this year too brought a wealth of data to assess the needs of the people. The Treasury is currently finalizing the budget to be presented to Parliament on November 21, a few days after the conclusion of the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo. The questionnaire varied between the two polls with the RCB carrying more complex but comprehensive questions while the BT poll had fewer questions, some of which were simultaneously covered in the RCB process.

Respondents to the BT said ‘ YES’ (100 per cent) to the question whether there is overspending while 65.7 per cent said “YES” to whether a wage hike is necessary.

Two questions in the BT poll were similarly posed by the RCB in their survey. Asked whether the cost of living is properly tackled, 97 per cent (email poll) and 66 per cent (RCB poll) responded with a ‘NO’ answer. Is the government borrowing too much here and abroad? 94 per cent of BT respondents and 81 per cent of RCB respondents said ‘ YES’.

One respondent said that while a wage hike is being urged to cushion rising inflation, wage increases will erode the competitiveness of goods and services produced and fuel inflation.