Category: Economy
Government urged to crack down on tax evaders instead of taxpayers: Harsha
In a press conference held yesterday, MP Harsha de Silva, Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance, shed light on the government’s tax collection efforts, revealing significant shortfalls in expected revenue. His comments have ignited a debate on the fairness of the current tax collection system and whether the government should prioritize collecting taxes from […]
Ceylon Chamber Advocates for a Balanced Fiscal Approach Over Proposed VAT rate hike
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce raises concerns regarding the proposed increase of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 18%. While recognising the government’s commitment to revenue enhancement in alignment with International Monetary Fund obligations, it’s imperative to evaluate the broader economic ramifications of such a decision. The current economic landscape, characterized by escalating income taxes, […]
PUCSL electricity tariff revision discriminatory: Advocata
Electricity tariff design must meet two main objectives: firstly, raising the money needed to pay for the costs of provision, and secondly, sending the right economic signals to each customer to favour the optimal socio-economic use of electricity. To achieve the above objectives the principles that must be followed when designing tariffs are; Economic sustainability […]
World Bank Managing Director Visits Sri Lanka, Stresses Need to Pursue Reforms, Invest in People
World Bank Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde, concluded her four-day visit to Sri Lanka today, encouraging the Government of Sri Lanka to stay the course on reforms for recovery and sustainable growth. She also underscored the World Bank’s continuous commitment to investing in people, strengthening human capital, and creating jobs. Bjerde met with Sri […]
Opinion: Reforming tax incentive structure in Sri Lanka
The second tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) was delayed as the country failed to meet some of the program targets including the government revenue target. This prompted the IMF in their latest review to reiterate the need to “strengthen tax administration, remove tax exemptions, and actively eliminate tax evasion” […]
Sri Lanka’s exports dropped by 15-pct in Sept compared to Aug amid decreased demand
Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports decreased by 11.88 % to US$ 951.5 Million in September 2023 compared to September 2022 as per the provisional data released by Sri Lanka Customs. Also, it is a 14.94 % decrease when compared to the value recorded in August 2023. The decline in merchandise exports is due to decreased demand […]
IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on First Review of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility Arrangement
IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the first review of the 48-month EFF-supported program. Sri Lanka will have access to SDR 254 million (about US$330 million) in financing once the review is approved by IMF Management and IMF Executive Board. “Macroeconomic policy reforms are […]
CSE creates awareness on Regulated Short Selling (RSS) through Stock Borrowing and Lending (SBL)
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) conducted a series of virtual workshops and intends to continue more workshops on Regulated Short Selling (RSS) through Stock Borrowing and Lending (SBL), creating awareness on the two features to diverse groups of individuals. The virtual workshops are being conducted in Sinhala, English and Tamil with the intention of reaching […]
Privatisation is the need of the hour:Advocata
“At the interim budget last year, a list of SOEs reforms were provided to be restructured. 14 months later nothing has changed even in one SOE.”- Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, a policy expert and an advisor of the Advocata Institute. He made these comments at Advocata’s press briefing, organised to highlight the urgency of carrying out […]
Lower global growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024: IMF
The World Economic Outlook October Update says global growth is forecast to slow from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024. The projections remain below the historical (2000–19) average of 3.8 percent, and the forecast for 2024 is down by 0.1 percentage point from the July 2023 Update […]
”; Outlook stable
Fitch Ratings has upgraded Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) National Long-Term Rating and the rating on CEB’s senior unsecure debentures to ‘BB+(lka)’, from ‘B(lka)’. The Outlook is stable. The upgrade follows the 28 September 2023 upgrade of the Sri Lankan sovereign’s Long- Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC-‘, from ‘Restricted Default (RD)’. CEB’s ratings […]
IMF & World Bank promote narrow means-tested programs with high error rates: Human Rights Watch
The IMF and World Bank recognize that people need support, but then they promote narrow means-tested programs that—both by design and due to chronically high error rates—exclude many people who are struggling, says Sarah Saadoun, senior economic justice researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch. Discussions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank […]