Taxation dynamics: Deloitte panel deciphers implications of Sri Lanka’s 2024 budget

Deloitte Sri Lanka, part of the international auditing, consulting, and financial advisory giant, Deloitte Global, held a special “Budget Night” panel discussion on Sri Lanka’s Government Budget 2024, on the 13th of November 2023, soon after the Budget was presented to parliament by President Ranil Wickremasinghe, as the Minister of Finance.

The panel comprised Dr. Gunawardane, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of LYNEAR; Bingumal Thewarathanthri, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Sri Lanka since January 2019; Yohan Lawrence, Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum since 2022; Channa Manoharan, Country Managing Partner – Deloitte Sri Lanka; and Charmaine Tillekeratne, Partner and Tax Lead at Deloitte Sri Lanka. The Panel discussion was moderated by Ruvini Fernando, Head of Financial Advisory Services of Deloitte Sri Lanka. Together, the panel provided an in-depth look at the Government Budget for 2024 and its implications for individuals and businesses in Sri Lanka, particularly from the perspective of taxation.

In his opening remarks, Bingumal stated that the economy has significantly progressed compared to a year ago, with debt restructuring now being the key challenge. He spoke on the importance of policy consistency, good governance, and transparency, state-owned enterprise (SOE), and labour reforms.

Commenting on the overall policies, Naveen emphasized that we now have a very narrow path to travel in our journey to economic recovery. There is no room for populist polices or room to deviate from the fiscal and macro-economic targets that have been given. The country must maintain the current structural reform it has adopted and commit to the completion of these reforms.

Yohan Lawrence highlighted the importance of enhancing exports through digitization and improved transaction traceability. Noting a global decrease in demand, he emphasized Sri Lanka’s competitiveness challenges. Market access, a conducive environment, and cost competitiveness were underscored, but he flagged higher utility costs in Sri Lanka compared to other nations. He also crucially pointed out the budget’s lack of focus on monitoring cost-effectiveness and controls, which are vital for ensuring the country’s economic growth and stability.

Channa Manoharan stressed the importance of aligning human capital with a technology enabled economy for Sri Lanka’s progress. Manoharan highlighted the missed opportunity of completing the introduction of Digital ID by September 2023, which is likely to have a potentially negative impact on tax revenue.

Access the Sri Lanka Budget 2024 Report by Deloitte: https://shorturl.at/gzEWY

For additional details and to explore further insights and articles related to the Sri Lanka Budget 2024, please visit the Deloitte website: https://shorturl.at/lSZ47