The Excise Department has stated that there is no basis in the current rumor that liquor prices will be reduced for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Channa Veerakkodi, the spokesperson of the said department, said that since the Excise Department has not received any order or instructions from the Ministry of Finance to revise the excise duty on alcohol, there will be no reduction in the price of alcohol.
Last week, Excise Commissioner M.J. Gunasiri told the media that the consumption of alcohol in this country is decreasing significantly due to high prices. He said that the department has been given an annual revenue target of 232 billion rupees by the end of this year.
The Commissioner of Excise further mentioned that the realization of this figure is doubtful as the production of alcohol in last January has decreased by 650,000 liters compared to the production of January 2023.