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Macroeconomic fundamentals and structural reforms are essential for economic growth

The Governor of the central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy pointed out that not only strong macroeconomic fundamentals but also structural reforms are essential for sustained economic growth and employment generation.

Delivering the inaugural address of the 10th International Research Conference of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka at the John Exter International Conference Hall, Dr. Coomaraswamy also highlighted the importance of developing robust frameworks for macroeconomic policy formulation in Sri Lanka and institutionalizing those frameworks through legislative enactments.

Addressing the gathering, the Governor highlighted the importance of developing robust frameworks for macroeconomic policy formulation in Sri Lanka and institutionalizing those frameworks through legislative enactments.

He emphasized the importance of revenue based fiscal consolidation and the process of transitioning to a flexible inflation targeting framework, and highlighted the importance of the Central Bank independence and accountability. He also acknowledged the importance of maintaining a flexible exchange rate to strengthen external resilience and the need for public liability management to achieve debt sustainability.

The two technical sessions of the Conference were chaired by Mrs. S Gunaratne and Mr. H A Karunaratne, Assistant Governors of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The technical sessions included eight research papers on macroeconomic issues and financial sector issues presented by researchers from Australia, France, Germany, India and Sri Lanka, including researchers from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. These research papers were selected by an eminent external panel of reviewers from local and international universities, the International Monetary Fund, the SEACEN centre and other reputed research institutions of the country. Dr. D. S. Wijesinghe Memorial Award for the Best Research Paper was awarded to Mr. Harsha Paranavithana of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka/University of Western Australia, for the paper titled ‘The Transition from Exchange Rate Targeting: The Case of Sri Lanka’.