March 16

Procuring construction 
machinery for govt. firms

Procuring construction machinery, equipment and goods transporting vehicles and supplying them to government institutions.  The government has planned to implement many development projects in Highway, Irrigation, Building and other fields.  

Supplying adequate stocks of 
rice to the market

The Cabinet of Ministers noted the lack of adequate stocks of rice in the market at present under the controlled price and discussed possible alternatives.  Accordingly, the Cabinet Ministers decided to first convert the stocks of paddy purchased from farmers by the Paddy Marketing Board into rice and distribute them continuously through Sathosa outlets and to consider alternative measures to be taken further considering the progress of the programme.

Implementing new tax proposals

A Bill has been drafted by the legal draftsman to amend the Inland Revenue Act, No.24 of 2017 and the Value Added Tax Act, No.14 of 2002 in order to implement tax reforms adduced by the “ Economic Revival Origins “ presented to introduce a simple, transparent and an effective tax system as pledged by the President to the people and the tax revisions and policy decisions relevant to the budget proposals submitted by the 2021 budget. Clearance of the Attorney General has been received for the above mentioned acts and the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal tabled by the .Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance to gazette the Bill and subsequently submit it to parliament.

Obtaining goods transportation
 aircraft on lease

The fleet of Sri Lankan Aviation Company Limited is comprised of a large number of economical narrow body aircraft.  As a result, more attention has been paid on the passenger air routes network in the recent years. This has led to under-utilization of aero goods transportation potential due to lack of suitable aircraft that cater to the goods transportation facility. With the outbreak of COVID — 19 pandemic most of the aircraft companies have paid attention on aero goods transportation since passenger transportation became limited.