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Ranjith Siyambalapitiya
State minister Siyambalapitiya on 4 Mn people paid monthly by govt.
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[A group of] 4 million are watching the government expectantly. 2 million out of that are government employees and pensioners who are expecting an increase in salaries and the other 2 million are those who have been admitted to the social welfare process through Aswesuma.

Socioeconomic

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya’s Facebook Page | November 8, 2023

Posted on: 8 February, 2024

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True
State Minister Siyambalapitiya mispresents regress as progress on casino taxes
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[…] Effective April 1, 2023, we hope to impose a fee of USD 50 on every Sri Lankan who enters such a place of business of gaming. This law was in place since 2015. From 2015, the stated law was to charge USD 100 from a person, but not a cent has been charged yet over these eight years. We only commenced charging this amount this year. […] By starting with an entrance fee of USD 50 and increasing it to USD 200, we hope that… the participation of Sri Lankans will be greatly reduced.
Economy

Manthri.lk Watch | August 9, 2023

Posted on: 5 October, 2023

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Partly True
State Minister Siyambalapitiya rides well on vehicle import numbers
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...within that period [2015-2020], we have brought 2,498,714 vehicles...worth Rs. 1,331.51 billion...We have taxed [them to the value of] 991.12 billion.

Trade

YouTube Page of Parliament of Sri Lanka | June 9, 2023

Posted on: 20 July, 2023

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True
State Minister Siyambalapitiya cherry picks to cheer fiscal stability
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…we are coming step by step towards fiscal stability. Even the IMF calculated that for this first quarter, our primary account balance will be negative by Rs. 56 billion. But we have brought this quarter…to a positive Rs. 48 billion.

Economy

Parliament of Sri Lanka - Parliament Live - On-demand | May 25, 2023

Posted on: 15 June, 2023

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Partly True
State Minister Siyambalapitiya’s tax paying labour force numbers don’t work
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Only 120,965 persons or 2.6 percent of the labour force, who are earning over Rs.100,000 per month, are subjected to the PAYE tax.
Economy

Daily Mirror | February 11, 2023

Posted on: 16 March, 2023

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False
State minister Siyambalapitiya short on facts on import shortages
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…It is because this step was taken [ban imports on certain items] that essential items such as fuel, medicine and fertiliser can be imported without any shortages…
Economy

Newswire | January 26, 2023

Posted on: 23 February, 2023

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False
Siyambalapitiya hugely magnifies fiscal difficulties for holding LG elections
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In 2022, the government’s revenue and expenditure difference were as high as 256% or Rs. 3,058 billion. [In 2023] The government expect the revenue to be Rs. 3.45 trillion, while the expenditure will go up to Rs. 10 trillion, incurring a deficit of Rs. 6.66 trillion for the year. Thus, financial discipline is indispensable to run the economy.

Economy

Daily FT  | January 21, 2023

Posted on: 2 February, 2023

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False
State minister Siyambalapitiya fails on success of tax collection
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We set a target to collect Rs. 915 billion in tax incomes through IRD in 2022. I’m delighted to say that we have been able to achieve 68.4% of this annual target at the end of September, which is in spite of the projected 8.2% contraction of GDP this year.
Economy

Daily Mirror | November 4, 2022

Posted on: 8 December, 2022

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Partly True
MP Siyambalapitiya quite sober on alcohol and tobacco taxes
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In 2021, 19% of the total tax revenue was received from tobacco and alcohol.

Economy

Daily News | September 21, 2022

Posted on: 20 October, 2022

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True