Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka cuts bank taxes, hikes tax on stock trading
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut a series of taxes on banks in a bid to increase banking activities, but raised a tax on stock trading, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said presenting the budget for 2011 in parliament. A debit tax on withdrawals from banks would be lifted and a so-called financial value […]
Sri Lanka cuts corporate income tax
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will cut corporate income taxes from 35 to 28 percent except for tobacco and alcohol, while income taxes for casinos, a newly legalized industry will be set at 40 percent, a budget for 2011 said. At present companies and non-governmental organizations are taxed at rates around 30 percent, […]
Sri Lanka to run budget deficit of 6.8-pct of GDP in 2011
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to run a budget deficit of 433. 7 billion rupees or 6.8 percent of gross domestic product, down from a revised 446. 7 billion rupees or 8.0 percent gap in 2010, a budget presented to parliament said. In 2011 the government is planning to increase tax […]
Sri Lanka ends tax discrimination
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will raise an employee income tax threshold and end discrimination that exempted state workers from paying tax, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told parliament. The PAYE (pay as your earn) tax threshold is to be raised to 600,000 rupees a year or 50,000 rupees a month, Rajapaksa said in […]
Sri Lanka business costs up due to new forced saving scheme
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s business operating costs are to rise with wages expenses rising by 4.0 percent following another state managed forced savings plans being set up, though income taxes have been cut to 28 percent from 35 percent. The budget speech said the state will force employers to transfer the entire […]
Sri Lanka appoints 90 ministers and deputies
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed 59 ministers in addition to the prime minister and 31 deputy ministers Tuesday ahead of a budget for 2011 to run the administration during his second term in office. Among the large group of ministers was also a minister for productivity development. Rajapaksa’s […]
Sri Lanka to raise electricity rates in January
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will raise electricity tariffs by eight percent on general users who consume over 90 units a month in January 2011, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told parliament. The present tariff rate will continue for small businesses, he said during the 2011 budget speech. The government will reduce the tariff by […]
India approves new airport for Mumbai
NEW DELHI, November 22, 2010 (AFP) – India gave the green light on Monday for the construction of a second international airport in the commercial capital Mumbai, a two billion dollar project that was ten years in the making. “Today, formally the environmental clearance has been given to the Navi Mumbai Project,” Environment Minister Jairam […]
Sri Lanka to distribute unused estate land among small farmers
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government intends to distribute among small farmers uncultivated land on tea estates operated by listed regional plantations corporations, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told parliament. The RPCs will be given six months’ notice to cultivate unused land, he said during a speech on the government budget for 2011. If […]
Sri Lanka to raise export taxes on bulk tea, rubber exports
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government plans to raise taxes on exports of bulk tea and raw rubber in penalizing producers and restricting their market access in a bid to support value added production, the budget for 2011 said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa told parliament during his budget speech that the island has […]
Sri Lanka stocks close down 0.7-pct
Nov 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed down 0. 75 percent Monday, with interest shown by both the institutional and retail traders, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 6,515. 80, down 0.75 percent (49.20 points) while the Milanka index of liquid stocks dipped 0. 53 percent (37.49 points) to close […]
Sri Lanka need to build human capital for post-war growth
Nov 21, 2010 (LBO) – The greatest need for post-war Sri Lanka’s plans for accelerated economic growth is an adequate and appropriate human capital base, a top economist and educator has said. Sri Lanka is chasing 8.0 percent growth after ending a 30-year war with Tamil separatists terrorists. “Sri Lanka which is after the war […]