While prices soar, no top economists in the economic council
As the country is witnessing the worst economic crisis since Independence, the Government is still struggling to get its act together to face reality or seek options to reduce its impact on the long suffering people.
Early this week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed an economic council to accelerate the country’s economic growth through economic management.
What matters was who constitutes the council: While the economic council is chaired by President Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, Basil Rajapaksa, Johnston Fernando, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, President's Secretary Gamini Senarath, Treasury Secretary S. R.
Attygalle and Central Bank Deputy Governor Dhammika Nanayakkara are members of the council.
The economic council is scheduled to meet every week and is tasked to provide relevant advice to the ministries and government departments on handling finances.
As many pointed out, what the council lacks are economists and independent thinkers since it consists of the same faces from the Cabinet and senior Government officials.
Many on social media platforms ridiculed the new council to resolve the economic crisis while drawing an example from the neighbouring regional state of Tamil Nadu.
Last June, the Tamil Nadu state government appointed a five member economic advisory council which comprised world-renowned economists including Nobel Prize-winning US economist Esther Duflo.
The other members are: Former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, the Central Government former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramaniam, Prof. Jean Dries from the Delhi School of Economics and former Union Government Finance Secretary S. Narayan.
One social media user commented: "Those same individuals dispensed their valuable inputs in the recent past when we witnessed the country going through difficult times. What can they achieve now except to gather around in an air conditioned room and wonder about ways to save a sinking economy?"