The country’s per capita production has reached US $ 2014 for the first time in history, while poverty had been reduced by 15 percent bringing down the unemployment rate to 5.2 percent, State Revenue and Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament yesterday.

"Sri Lanka is the one and only country in the entire South Asian region that achieved so much economic victories and that was too within a very short period of time," Minister Siyambalapitiya said, introducing two Bills – Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (Amendments) and the Secured Transactions.

He said that Sri Lanka would be among developed nations by the year 2015.

When the economy is fast developing, new laws have to be brought in and existing laws should be amended to strengthen the financial market and to facilitate the investors, the Minister said.

The process of obtaining loans for Small and Medium entrepreneurs would be easier and swift hereafter and this would in return contribute for the economic development, he said. The Secured Transactions Act would provide for the securing obligations in respect of moveable property, maintenance of a Secured Transactions Register by the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) of Sri Lanka. The new law would eliminate the problems faced by the Small and Medium sector entrepreneurs providing securities in entering into purchase agreements, finance leasing agreements, mortgages, agreements for sale of accounts and chattel paper and lease agreements. At the movement there is no proper centralised body to check on the moveable properties subject to security interest.

New laws had been introduced to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Act of 1987, to increase the private sector representation in the commission, to enable the Commission to issue directives to all listed public companies with the view to protecting the interests of the investors and ensuring that professional standards are maintained by such companies and to encompass instruments such as derivatives, futures and options in the capital market.

The Bills were passed.