COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesesinghe, who is also Finance Minister had a final discussion with key officials on a budget which is to be delivered in Parliament on Monday (13), his media office said.
The meeting at this official residence was attended by Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Sirwardena, Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Presidential Senior Adviser on Economic Affairs R.H.S. Samaratunga and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayaka and Director General Presidential Media Dhanushka Ramanayake.
Ministers of State for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Shehan Semasinghe were also present.
Sri Lanka has to take revenues to 12% of gross domestic product in 2024 under International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements and also give a salary increment to state workers, who have suffered a hit on real wages due to a currency collapse.
Sri Lanka has already announced a 3% value added tax hike to 18% and many exceptions are expected to be removed.
Raising revenues after a currency collapse triggered by money printed to mis-target rates is difficult as the economy contracts in the stabilization year.
The higher revenue earning imports like cars are also banned in cascading policy error, after rate cuts enforced by inflationary open market operations triggered forex shortages.
There have been calls for a ‘revenge tax’ or retrospective tax on investors who bought bonds at high rates allowing g-sec markets to function and get the country out the crisis, but were excluded from restructuring.
President Wickremesinghe has also indicated a new tax will be placed on bond holders, but it is not clear whether it will apply to the future, or will be retrospective undermining rule of law.
The IMF has warned against retrospective taxes and also tax amnesties.
“Policy makers have introduced repeated tax amnesties while imposing additional tax, sometimes retrospectively, on compliant taxpayers,” an IMF said in a corruption diagnostic report.
“Such a system undermines the trust of taxpayers, reduces predictability of the tax system with detrimental effects on long-term investment, distorts decisions, and complicates administration.”
-economynext.com
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