Govt. targets revenue increase of Rs 900 bn in 2023

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta

The government expects to increase its revenue by 65% in 2023 and 90% of it is to come from taxes, state minister of finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says.

Siyambalapitiya said yesterday that in 2023 government revenue would increase to 13% the GDP from current 8.5%. The government revenue had to increase by Rs 900 billion. he said.

The government would present Budget 2023 on 14 Nov., he said.

However, eight cases had been filed against government measures aimed at raising state revenue, the State Minister said.

“This is unfortunate. We really need to boost government revenue,” he said, adding that the state expenditure had been estimated at Rs 7.8 trillion for 2023.

“This is an increase of 29.2% or Rs. 1.7 trillion, compared to 2022. We plan to spend Rs. 432 billion on health, Rs. 504 billion on education and Rs. 572 billion on social welfare. About 69% of families are asking for state assistance,” he said.

The State Minister added that the government had to increase revenue to ensure that services to the public could be maintained. “Taxation is the easiest way to ensure that the government can do this. However, we are looking at other ways too,” he said