Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment, said that despite the unwillingness of Sri Lanka to recover from the economic crisis, taxes have to be levied.
He mentioned that taxation is not a popular decision, and the government and the president take such decisions with the aim of attaining the development goals of the country, leaving aside the narrow political objective.
The minister made these comments while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Jayagamu Sri Lanka People’s Mobile Service which started today (01) at Bogambara Prison Stadium, Kandy.
Further commenting there, the minister said,
“Today there is a cry against taxes. We were taxed to change the status quo. Throughout history, we have been a group of people who have done their duty above godliness. At that time, we did not pay taxes to the government in coins, so we did our duties to the government.
In those days, the people contributed with labor while building tanks and dams. What happened there was that they contributed in the way they could to the work of building the country. We cannot give alms through labor like then. That is why we pay taxes in this way.
In the last month, the expected tax target has been exceeded and an excess amount of 300 billion rupees has come to the treasury. There, the President said that in the event that the Central Bank is unable to mold money, let’s keep this money as hedge funds.
We keep the money safe for the future of the country. It will happen next month as well. It will happen in the coming months as well. Accordingly, we hope to maintain a surplus between 100 and 150 billion rupees. We are doing this for the future of the country’s children and to prevent the country from falling into a crisis again.