In January 2024, government revenue, including grants, rose by an astounding 61.8 percent. The increase is attributed to the rise in tax revenue and the slow recovery of the economy.
Government revenue and grants for January totaled 283.19 billion rupees, of which 257.57 billion rupees were earned through taxes. This represents a 63.8 percent increase over the same period last year.
The impressive increase in tax revenue in January compared to the same month in 2023 was mainly due to the recovery of the economy, further supported by a 3 percent increase in the value-added tax rate effective January 1, 2024.
Thus it is clear that the reason for intensifying the economic crisis from 2020 to 2022 is the tax reduction made by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in 2019.