Economist Nishan de Mel has said that increasing the cost of cigarettes rather than fuel prices would make better economic sense.
In support of his argument, de Mel, in a tweet, said the estimated loss incurred by not implementing cigarettes tax formulae in 2020 was
Rs. 20 billion, and that the country is set to lose another Rs. 20 billion in 2021.
Quoting Verité Research data, he pointed out that allowing cigarettes to remain under-taxed is a serious failure in Sri Lanka’s economic policy. More insight on the matter is available at veriteresearch.org/insight/cigarette-taxation-rs-20-billion-extra-revenue-in-2020-if-indexation-implemented/.
(FT)