For example, the elimination of ceilings on the contribution base would significantly raise revenues, but it would also mean a substantial increase in labour costs, and if there is no parallel increase in maximum pensions the relationship between contributions and benefits which, in my opinion, should be preserved, would be considerably weakened. Another option would be to confine the concept of contributory pensions exclusively to retirement pensions, which would continue to be funded from social contributions, while other pensions would be funded from general taxes. Clearly, this would require increasing general taxes, or reducing other public expenditure in order to be able to pay for the pensions transferred from the social security fund to central government. As regards raising general taxes to pay for pensions, it is crucial that the resulting tax basket has the mildest possible distortionary effects on growth, bearing in mind the point of departure. 5/6  To conclude, I would like to share three considerations with you. Firstly, I would like to highlight that the recent reforms have built in an automatic mechanism for the financial equilibrium of the pension system (sustainability factor and revaluation index), bringing it closer to other European public pension systems. This automatic mechanism, as it is currently defined or under alternative definitions in the future, should be preserved. Secondly, current regulations or any additional reforms should be implemented as transparently as possible in order to give the public the necessary information about the sufficiency of future pensions and allow individuals to make optimal saving decisions.
W A Wijewardena: Microfinance – issues in the current context Keynote address by Mr W A Wijewardena, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at the Seminar on Microfinance Services in Sri Lanka, Colombo, 29 June 2009. *  *  *  A new word that has been added to Sri Lanka’s vernacular usage recently has been “sakvithi”. This word has so far not got into lexicographers’ lexicon in its new sense. Literarily, it means the “Chief God of Heavens”. But, the contemporary media have used it in a different sense, drawing on a recent episode of fraud that had ended up pauperising many investors who were ambitious of high gains. Hence, its contemporary meaning has been clear even to its first-time spotters. The picture created in the mind when one hears the word is not that of a god but a man: a man bent on deceiving others with false promises of unusually high gains, but at the end, finishes up by appropriating to him their wealth. It is also the picture of a man who has played with the psychological frailties of people with crafty marketing and propaganda by projecting himself as a saint, friend and saviour. Those who fall for his artful schemes will get one thing for sure: complete loss of their life-time savings. It, therefore, foretells of shattering of hopes which they may have cherished about a better future as well. Sakvithi’s lessons for microfinance Sakvithi episode is not an isolated incident of breach of trust.