COLOMBO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka increased its excise revenue by 20 percent in the first half of 2024, while reducing alcohol consumption by 8 percent, compared to the same period in 2023, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said on Wednesday.
Siyambalapitiya said that during the first six months of 2023, alcohol producers in Sri Lanka distilled 18 million liters of alcohol, generating 83 billion rupees (273 million U.S. dollars) in tax revenue for the state.
However, in the corresponding period of 2024, production decreased to 16.7 million liters, while tax revenue surged to over 100 billion rupees (330 million dollars), he said.
The state minister also highlighted that from 2015 to 2023, tobacco consumption in Sri Lanka declined by 41.9 percent, yet the state's tax revenue from tobacco increased by 36 percent in 2023 compared to 2015.
In 2015, Sri Lankans smoked 3.96 billion cigarettes, whereas by 2023, this figure had dropped to 2.3 billion cigarettes, Siyambalapitiya said.
Despite this reduction in tobacco use, the state's revenue from cigarette taxes rose from 81.15 billion rupees (262 million dollars) in 2015 to 110 billion rupees (363 million dollars) in 2023, the state minister said.
Additionally, in the last two years alone, cigarette consumption decreased by 17 percent, while tax revenue increased by 6 percent, he said.
Siyambalapitiya also said that 1,635 applications were submitted to open liquor stores in the past two years, but only 522 were approved. ■
