Sri Lanka budget 2016 expects Rs18n from annual vehicle; emissions testing duopoly to end

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka hopes to earn 18 billion rupees a year from a 5,000 rupee annual emissions tax on car over thee years old, which will be collected with the annual revenue license, a budget for 2016 said.

Sri Lanka is scrambling to find money to pay sharply higher salaries of state workers and private citizens have to pay up to finance a 10,000 rupee a month salary hike.

Sri Lanka has a bloated state mainly because the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a leftist party which is inimical to the interests of non-state worker in productive sectors has persuaded unemployable graduates to demand state jobs and be tax-spenders for life with a pension.

The budget said a current duopoly in emission testing held by the listed Laugfs group and Drive Green, a unit of Akbar Brothers, a private business group.

"Issuance of vehicle emission certificates will be liberalized and opened up for competition by allowing more players to come in," the budget said.