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Capitalising on human capital

18 Oct 2022

The popular opinion is that the economic crisis cost the country much in terms of the economy and socially speaking, while there is some progress as far as the people’s contribution in altering the political movement is concerned. However, there is more to lose than what the country has already lost. Human capital – the skills, knowledge, and qualifications of a person, group, or a workforce that have a considerable value economically – is one such asset.  The Government recently acknowledged the importance of this crucial asset at the Human Capital Ministerial meeting held during the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, District of Columbia, the US, where State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said that human capital will remain at the core of the development and growth process going forward in Sri Lanka. Emphasising that Sri Lanka has achieved considerable progress as far as human development is concerned, Semasinghe further said that despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, the Government is determined to support vulnerable groups, especially through social programmes.  The Government raised the importance of developing and protecting the country’s human capital at a time where citizens have started gradually losing the faith that they had in the political and social developments that occurred during the past few months, especially after the end of the Galle Face chapter of the “aragalaya” (people’s struggle). According to many interviews conducted with the general public by The Morning, despite certain progressive developments by the Government, many people remain extremely skeptical about the Government’s ability to reverse the economic decline that the country experienced during the past few months, let alone uplifting Sri Lanka to the state of a developed country, as the Government keeps promising even amidst the economic crisis. Sri Lankans have great potential in many fields, and there is a lot of room for improvement. For example, in addition to established businesses such as the information technology sector that is booming even during the economic crisis, a large number of internet-based businesses have become more popular and more and more people are engaging in these businesses. However, owing to the lack of faith in the Government and in the overall situation of the country, many of them have chosen to keep their money – which they earn in the form of foreign currency – in accounts beyond the Government’s reach, including in digital wallets. This is a cardinal example of how the loss of faith in the Government and in the management of the overall economy has disheartened people from contributing to the national economy, and has them focused on their own wellbeing. Needless to say, brain drain is also exacerbating the issue. A considerable number of people have also started leaving the country seeking better employment opportunities and living conditions, sometimes in ways that involve a great risk to their lives, because they do not trust the Government’s promises of reviving the economy.  In the Government’s attempts to resuscitate the economy, which is dependent majorly on utilising the potential of the country’s human capital, rather than on loans or other international assistance, the Government must prioritise instilling faith in the country’s workforce. This can be done only through taking scientifically motivated, and not politically beneficial, decisions that can in turn convince the people that the Government is on the correct path. As far as the economy is concerned, when all other resources such as monetary resources are unable to contribute significantly towards economic revival, the human resource is the only resource that makes this revival achievable in reality. The Government has to understand that losing human capital is tantamount to the country’s complete doom, even though it is gradual, and the fact that economic revival depends on the workforce, which is slowly losing their faith in the present administration, and in its promises.


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