'Tax payers invited to lead development drive'

By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka will be one of the 10 best countries with regard to good governance in Asia and there will be an effective system in place to encourage doing business with ease.

The Government will create an environment enabling the business community and we invite tax payers to be in the forefront of the country’s development drive, Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary Ministry of Finance and Planning Dr. P.B. Jayasundera told a post-budget discussion organised by the Ministry of Finance and Planning in Colombo recently.

The country is in transition from an upper middle income country to an advanced economy where the National Budget 2015 with 'Vision 20/30' has formulated a medium term policy framework (2015-2017) for Sri Lanka to move forward.

The inclusive Budget contains measures that will improve the status of the people, through a holistic approach, he said

The Budget which includes investment expansion strategies, has taken into account as many stakeholders as possible. If this Budget is termed as a popular budget, it is because it has addressed many aspects of all strata of society.

One of the significant things in the Budgets presented since 2006 is that it was not confined to that particular year, he said.

The Mahinda Chintana policy document focuses on all sectors, to ensure that everyone benefits through the implementation of strategies with systematic planning.

The simplified tax system will act as an impetus for investors and businesses.

The export, tourism, SME, construction, agriculture and education sectors will benefit from the 12 percent tax structure.

Therefore, people should contribute to development by paying taxes.

Sri Lanka’s health sector enjoys improved indexes in many areas including life expectancy, infant mortality and maternity deaths compared to the world, especially among the developed countries.

Therefore, it is necessary to change medical resources to produce a healthy nation as Sri Lanka aims at becoming one of the countries that is at the highest of the Human Development Index compared to many developed countries.

Sri Lanka is the most capital invested country after Philippines in Asia for its development activities. More capital was allocated for development with the launch of infrastructure development and revival of agriculture.

The road network, telecommunication, power and energy sectors and agriculture have been improved and these sectors have all reaped the dividends of peace.

With plans to increase per capita income from US $ 4,200 to US$ 7,500 by 2020, Sri Lanka has taken measures to increase exports in terms of volume and value. Recording an economic growth in the region of 8 percent, unemployment 4 percent and inflation less than 5 percent, the country is well on the way to become an advanced economy in Asia, Dr. Jayasundera said.