Charges have been levelled that the 2017 budget interferes with the activities of the Central Bank’s Monetary Board. Speaking at an event held on Tuesday, November 15, the Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake commented on the matter.

The minister stated that the Central Bank is “a creature of the Finance Ministry or the Constitution in order to certain monetary measures.” But, he added “the Central Bank has failed miserably on many matters“.

Minister Karunanayake alleged that the Central Bank has been politicised, when it needs to be “a regulatory force”. He said that the CBSL does not need to be “dabbling” on how to run a country but be monitoring the government’s activities on the monetary matter.

He said that the government has to ensure that the economy is put on a firm, safe footing and ensure that everyone gets equal treatment through the process.

The state of tax collection in the country

“… You need to know. You think with the BMWs and the houses and the hotels coming up that you’ll have hundreds of hundred billionaires. No. There is only one person who is paying over hundred million. That is the sad situation”, said the Minister of Finance.

According to Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Sri Lanka’s population consists of 23 million people, but there are only;

– 43,000 corporate tax files
– 21,000 VAT files
– 25,000 Nation Building Tax files

Only 09%t of tax files compared to the population

“Isn’t this disgraceful? Pay your due call and ask as much as you want from the government. But don’t pay nothing and ask for everything…” – Ravi Karunanayake.

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