Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Finance assures tax burden will be reduced at first possible chance

All necessary measures will be taken to reduce the tax burden currently imposed on the people as soon as possible, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya assured.

Speaking during a media briefing in Colombo yesterday (July 13), State Minister Siyambalapitiya said, at the first instance when they are able to reduce taxes, they will not hesitate to take those steps.

“We intend on having a discussion with them and reducing this burden at the first chance we get”, he said.

Commenting on the progress Sri Lanka has made so far, the State Minister stated that compared to the year 2022, a growth of 38.1% has been recorded between January and May this year (2023).

“Tax revenue has grown by 44.9%, income tax has grown by 53.6%, the Goods and Services tax has grown by 65.6%, taxes on foreign trade have reduced by 12.2%.

This is not due to the fault of the Customs, we had to stop the importation of several goods to bring the country to this state”, he explained further, adding that the total expenses have increased by 47.8%, mainly due to welfare schemes and subsidy grants currently in place.