News

SJB demands forensic audit on loss incurred from reduction of duty on imported sugar

Published

2 years ago

2021/03/12

The Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) has requested the Ministry of Finance to conduct a forensic audit on the loss incurred by the state due to reducing the import duty on sugar to Rs. 0.25 per kilo.

SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva urged a forensic audit to calculate the real loss since it was estimated that the state incurred a loss of Rs. 15.9 billion by what he called the strange exercise.

“The Ministry of Finance told the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) this week that Rs. 15.9 billion in tax revenue has been lost”, he said.

Dr. De Silva said that the SJB had asked for a debate in Parliament on the matter.

Earlier this year, Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance Anura Priyadarshana Yapa instructed the Ministry of Finance officials to submit a report on the sugar tax revision.

In October 2020, the government reduced the import duty on a kilo of sugar from Rs. 50 to 25 cents stating that it wanted to reduce the retail price of sugar in the market.

However, sugar importers had stocked about 90,000 metric tons of sugar they had imported after paying Rs. 50 per kilo by way of import duty.

The government on 27 October increased the tax imposed on a kilo of sugar to Rs. 40. However, according to the Special commodity levy act, a levy increase come into force a month later.

Thus, the amended duty increase was not enforced between October 13 and November 13. During this period, one sugar importer was able to import 100,000 MT of sugar by paying only 25 cents as duty per kilo. Sathosa had also purchased sugar from the importer at over Rs. 125 a kilo. The Opposition alleges the importer made a significant profit at the expense of the state. (RK.)

All News Advertisement

News

Stay on course and don’t go back to the past – Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Published

7 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

Former Governor of the Central Bank delivering the keynote address at a high profile Webinar hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (24) said that Sri Lanka must implement the structural reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without relaxing like in the past or else we will be in a deeper economic mess.

The webinar was titled ‘What is next for Sri Lanka in the wake of the IMF programme’

News

Sustainable economic development goals cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to mitigating climate change – Sagala Ratnayake

Published

7 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake said sustainable economic development goals cannot be accomplished without taking steps to mitigate climate change.

He said this while participating in the 10,000 sapling planting program organized by the LEO Youth Vision 2048 Club and the LEO Club at the Royal College, Colombo on Thursday (23rd).

This program was organized in view of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s birthday, which is today (24), and the required plants were distributed to the main schools of the Colombo District.

News

SF claims thousands of police and military personnel leaving

Published

19 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

By Saman Indrajith

Thousands of police and military personnel had left the services recently as they did not want to carry out illegal orders, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday. According to the war-winning army commander 200 policemen have resigned during the past two months and 25,000 soldiers have left the army during the last two years.

“We urged the law enforcement and military officials not to follow illegal orders. We will reinstate them with back pay,” he said.

Fonseka also urged the President and the government MPs not to take people for fools.

“Sri Lanka owes 55 billion dollars to the world. Ranil’s plan is to borrow another seven billion during the next four years. So, in four years we will owe 62 billion to the world.

Ranil and his ministers ask us what the alternative to borrowing is. These are the people who destroyed the economy and society. They must leave. Then, we will find an alternative and develop the country,” he said, adding that the IMF loans had made crises in other nations worse.

“Ranil says that by 2025, we will have a budget surplus as in Japan, Germany and South Korea. These countries are economic power houses, and this comparison is ludicrous.”