NLB records Rs. 6.5b revenue

by Anjana Samarasinghe

The National Lotteries Board (NLB) recorded an income of Rs 6.5 billion last year and total funds awarded for winning lotteries was Rs 3.1 billion.

A senior official of the NLB said 47 percent from the total income of the NLB was provided for winning lotteries while 15 percent is given to lottery sellers and 0.8 percent for district dealers as service charges. The balance is utilised for the economic development of the country through various ministries and projects, he said.

There are around 3371 people involved in selling lotteries in around the country. There are ten varieties of lotteries with seven draw lotteries and three instant lotteries.

Mahajana Sampatha is the most demanded lottery among them. Nearly eight million buy lottery tickets per day and around two million of them were Mahajana Sampatha.

NLB expects to increase the sales of lotteries and generate more funds by introducing new prize structures for particular lotteries. They have already introduced a new prizing structure for the Jayaviru lottery.

NLB is discussing with authorities on the possibilities of generating more funds directly for the labour force through the Shrama Vasana lottery and also hope to launch a new lottery for the benefit of those constructing houses.