SL's regulatory reforms steady - Minister Basil
Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa participated as
chief guest in a seminar on 'Progress made in improving Sri Lanka's
doing business ranking 2010 and for formulating future strategies' on
November 1, 2011, at the John Exter International Conference Hall of the
Central Bank.
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Minister
Basil Rajapaksa |
According to the Doing Business Ranking computed by the World Bank
Group, Sri Lanka is ranked 89 of 183 countries in 2012. This is a
tangible improvement compared to the ranking achieved in 2011, which was
98. The Doing Business Ranking presents quantitative indicators on
business regulations and protection of property rights that can be
compared across 183 economies.
A set of regulations affecting 10 stages of a business's life were
measured for the 2012 ranking: starting a business, dealing with
construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting
credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders,
enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
According to the Doing Business Report 2012, the pace of regulatory
reforms has remained steady over the past year in South Asia and Sri
Lanka and Bhutan were the most active in this area. Most of the reforms
undertaken in Sri Lanka in 2011 were in the areas of Protecting
Investors and Paying taxes. The ranking of Sri Lanka in the area of
Protecting Investors improved dramatically from 74 to 46, an improvement
of 28 places. This was achieved by amendment of the CSE listing rules
requiring greater corporate disclosure on transactions between
interested parties.
Sri Lanka also undertook substantial tax reforms during 2011,
reducing tax costs to businesses by abolishing turnover tax and reducing
corporate income tax, value added tax and nations building tax rates.
However, although these reforms were highlighted in the Doing Business
2012 report, they were not taken into account in the computation of the
ranking in terms of the Doing Business Methodology, as a period of one
year had not elapsed since the tax reforms were implemented. Governor of
the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Secretary to the
Prime Minister, S Amarasekera, government officials and Central Bank
officers also participated at this occasion.
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