Gold smuggling from Sri Lanka curbed through taxes
Attempts by smugglers to send gold out of Sri Lanka to India has been thwarted by the adjustment of tariff rates that exist between Sri Lanka and India where duty free gold imports are smuggled across to India, said Governor of the Central Bank Indrajit Coomaraswamy delivering the CMA Founders Day Oration held at the HNB Auditorium at Colombo 10 recently.
Referring to the “Gampereliya” programme launched by the government that envisages rehabilitation of numerous minor irrigation tanks, he said the idea was to improve the rural economy in which a sum of Rs. 80 billion will be allocated within the next two years. The development of the rural economy with rehabilitation of rural tanks is poised to improve the economy. He said where the country’s development prospects are concerned some progress has been made to standardize the economy but where the growth rate is concerned much more has to be done.
“There are signs that we are moving in the right direction where inflation is in pretty good shape.”
He said severe drought conditions that existed in the country affected three successive crop failure seasons had adversely impacted the economy. Referring to the country’s foreign reserves, he said right now it was around US$8.7 billion. More foreign exchange is expected this year from the China Development Bank and the government has also raised a syndicated loan of $1 billion on favourable terms.
“Before the end of this year we hope to have around $9 billion as foreign external reserves. We will have a surplus in the current account for the first time since 1957.”
He said the present scenario was that money was moving out from emerging markets to developed countries. He said fiscal discipline has to be consolidated to access international financial markets. Aggressively borrowing huge sums of money from non -commercial foreign banks in the past while exports were down has had an adverse effect on the economy.
President CMA Sri Lanka, Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala, who delivered the welcome address, said in Sri Lanka costs in relation to various matters are calculated in a manner devoid of any guidelines laid down by accounting standards and noted that this has to be addressed if productivity in the country is to improve. He said the Public Service Commission and the Auditor General Department have paid lip service towards employing CMA qualified personnel despite a government directive.
Management accountants can play a lead role when there is a dearth of accounting professionals in the country.