Rerun

The government has reapplied for a US$ 60 mn loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to restructure national revenue collection.







The government has reapplied for a US$ 60 mn loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to restructure national revenue collection. “We (government and ADB) have agreed on a basic outline and we hope to present the proposal to the (ADB) board for approval late this year or early next year,” said a local ADB representative.

If the proposals are accepted Sri Lanka will have up to US$ 60 mn at her disposal to reorganise national revenue collection.

“Support for the reforms budget would be around US$ 40 mn and another US$ 15 mn – US$ 20 mn for capacity building,” said the ADB representative.

Sri Lanka is reapplying for ADB credit after a previously approved project proposal to restructure the national revenue collecting bodies met with stiff internal opposition.

The previous proposal – that received ADB approval- was to bring the three tax bodies – Customs, Excise and Inland Revenue – under a single Revenue Authority.

Now the policymakers and the revenue bodies are back at the drawin