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| Sunday, 16 June 2002 |
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'Put undeclared assets to productive use' by SUREKHA GALAGODA Minister of Rural Economy and Deputy Minister of Finance Bandula Gunawardena and Adviser to the Ministry of Policy Planning R. Paskaralingam have requested trade chambers to tell their membership to put undeclared assets to productive use or to invest such funds in the economy. Minister Gunawardena said that a tax amnesty has been given so that people could declare their assets and put them into productive use without paying taxes, penalties or questions by revenue authorities. "We assure you that you can invest any monies in any venture including house building," the Minister told a meeting with the chambers last week. Minister Gunawardena and Mr Paskaralingam requested the business community to bear with the Government to wipe away the difficulties faced by the Government which are much bigger than those faced by the private sector. "If we can sail through these two years, we can achieve a higher growth rate and employment, thereby improving living standards," the Minister said. He said that measures such as the Debit Tax and the Port and Airport Levy were temporary measures imposed to curb the financial difficulties faced by the Government. The Port and Airport Levy has been reduced to 0.75 per cent from one per cent proposed in the budget on a decision by the Prime Minister to help exporters. The Prime Minister is scheduled to present the medium and long-term economic policy of the Government to the nation by mid-July. Minister Gunawardena, outlining the situation of the national economy, said that the Government needed Rs. 331 billion for interest payments and loan instalments while the expected revenue is Rs 278 billion. The overdraft of Rs. 38 billion taken by the previous regime was costing the Government Rs. 6.5 billion in interest payments. The Government needs another Rs 300-350 billion for recurrent expenditure. He said the debt burden which was Rs 500 billion in 1994 has increased to Rs 1,500 billion during the last six years. Mr Paskaralingam said: "We never expected to face this situation. High interest rates and the huge debt burden are the only reasons we cannot provide any kind of relief." Mr Paskaralingam requested the private sector to invest more, taking advantage of the positive economic climate and the dividends of peace with confidence for a better tomorrow. Deputy Governor of the Central Bank ??? Wijewardena told the meeting that according to the provisional data available, the first quarter is not prosperous. The second quarter is much better while the prospects for the third and fourth quarters are bright with good weather and the dividend of peace. "Therefore, we are confident that we can achieve a growth rate of 3.7 per cent this year. This is good, though not the desired growth rate for our country, he said adding that the country needs a 10 per cent growth rate for the next 10 years to increase employment. Deputy Chairman Ceylon chamber of Commerce Deva Rodrigo said that the Department of Inland Revenue harasses the taxpayer more and more as a result of the incentive scheme given to the officers. He was of the view that introducing the new scheme will not bear fruit under these circumstances. Mr Kingsley Bernard of the National Chamber of Exporters said the Government has not given any incentives to exporters in this budget. Minister Gunawardena said that if the budget targets are not met, there will be more borrowings which will increase interest rates. It will put the country to more difficulties. "Therefore, we want to achieve revenue targets and give some relief to the people, the companies and the workers." |
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