12 December 2023 12:22 am Views - 170
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill which was aimed at boosting the state revenue by imposing VAT on 97 items was approved by a majority of 45 votes with 100 members voting for it and 55 against. Some 69 members were absent during the voting time.
Former Minister Roshan Ranasinghe who was removed from the cabinet recently voted against while Vadivel Suresh of SJB voted in favour.
Among absentees were Namal Rajapaksa, who said a few hours before the vote that he was against the amendment. However, his father, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa voted in favour.
Accordingly, the government succeeded in its attempt to boost revenue by enacting a piece of legislation to reduce the VAT-exempted list from 138 categories of items to 97, a move that will have a two per cent inflationary effect.
The approval came a day before the possible approval of the next IMF tranche. IMF is expected to decide on the second tranche to Sri Lanka today.
State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe who wound up the debate said the opposition was trying to prevent the country from becoming economically stable once again after the economic crisis it suffered last year. “The abrupt end of the debate on the Amendment on Sunday was an attempt by the opposition to prevent the country from becoming economically stable once again. Therefore, I request the opposition to support the legislation for the sake of the nation,” he said.