Liquor licenses not given free, they generated Rs. 3.1 Bn revenue :Ranil

By Yohan Perera
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the previous government under his leadership did not issue any liquor licenses in violation of the rules and regulations of the Excise Department, generating a revenue of over Rs. 3.1 billion during the first nine months of this year.

In a statement, the former President said that the government had earned over Rs. 3.1 billion during the first nine months of this year through the new liquor licenses issued during his tenure.
Liquor licenses were provided under a transparent programme, enabling the government to earn a revenue of Rs. 4 billion in 2024, former President Wickremesinghe added.
“The previous government did not provide liquor licenses free of charge but introduced a new transparent exercise enabling the government to earn additional revenue during a difficult period. We adopted a new strategy to earn additional revenue,” he said in a special statement.
 Wickremesinghe was responding to the document which was tabled in Parliament by Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake, which said around 316 liquor licenses were issued in 2024 by the previous regime.