Pathfinder Foundation to conduct webinar on management of public finances

Saturday, 29 November 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) will hold a webinar on the 2 December 2025 at the Colombo Club, Taj Samudra. The event primarily focuses on the theme, “Managing Public Finance: The South Asian Experience” and aims to bring together officials, scholars, representatives from leading think tanks, and related field experts.

Pathfinder Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke will deliver the opening remarks. The key resource persons for the event include; former International Monetary Fund Asia and Pacific Department Director Anoop Singh, a PF Distinguished Fellow and former Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, and a Distinguished Fellow and former Ministry of Finance and Planning Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunge.

This discussion is organised as a tribute to Anoop Singh, who was the IMF’s Resident Representative in Colombo during the landmark economic reform program in 1977. During his tenure, he worked very closely with the Sri Lankan authorities to design wide-ranging reforms of the country’s trade and payments system. This marked a radical shift from a strongly dirigiste, inward-looking economy to a more market-oriented system. He was also supportive of Sri Lanka during his subsequent tenure as Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department. He was known for his strong problem-solving approach to advancing the agenda.

This webinar aims to foster a constructive and insightful discussion on the importance of effective public financial management. As global economic dynamics evolve amid changing trade patterns, the importance of sound fiscal governance has never been greater. The discussion in this webinar will highlight practical pathways for countries, especially in South Asia, to strengthen fiscal resilience, improve debt management, and align public finance with long-term developmental objectives. Furthermore, the event will focus on a detailed examination of the causal factors, effects and other implications of recent crisis-like situations that rapidly evolved into full-scale socio-political upheavals, as seen in Sri Lanka (2022), Bangladesh (2024), and Nepal (2025) – and how economic mismanagement worsened and accelerated these crises.

The webinar will be conducted in a hybrid format, enabling both online and in-person attendance (by invitation only). Interested participants are encouraged to join the webinar by filling out the registration form available at the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwqqXucGDAQj8vUemd0ydNQDFo9V_C5kk-XH0PyZ4DDaD6Yg/viewform?usp=dialog

The Pathfinder Foundation continues to promote dialogue among relevant field experts, aiming to lead Sri Lanka towards a sustainable and prosperous future.