Sri Lanka: Policy Paper on Inequality
Dileni Gunewardena, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Statistics
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Inequality in Sri Lanka has a strong regional dimension. Growth in the last two decades has been largely limited to the urban manufacturing and services sectors located in the western province, leaving households engaged in plantation and non-plantation agriculture, especially in provinces further away from the economic hub, with little or no growth in incomes (consumption). Spatial disadvantage, poor infrastructure, limited work opportunities, and low human capital characterize households and individuals in the latter group, who also display above average malnutrition rates among mothers and young children. Institutional and structural factors, social exclusion and discrimination contribute to widening disparities.
In order to reduce inequality and its effects on poverty and hunger, policy makers need to focus on a mix of policies that (1) ensure more equitable growth, and (2) address specific structural constraints that allow horizontal inequalities to persist.
What precise mix of policies would you expect the government to realistically undertake to help accomplish the above objectives?”
What do you think are the binding constraints to reducing inequality/engendering more equitable growth in Sri Lanka?
