Colombo: Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organizer and MP Namal Rajapaksa has accused the government of failing to fulfil its promise to remove VAT on school supplies, healthcare and essential food items.
He made these remarks in Parliament today during a discussion with MPs D.V. Chanaka and Chanaka Madugoda.
Rajapaksa said the government had failed over the past two and a half years to introduce effective programmes to reduce the cost of living, ease the financial burden on families and lower the cost of education for schoolchildren.
He claimed that inflation had exceeded 8% and was expected to rise further this month.
Commenting on the President’s recent statement that no taxes had been increased during his tenure, Rajapaksa said the government had failed to deliver on its promise to remove VAT from essential goods and services.
“Instead, they imposed VAT on the interest earned from ordinary people’s savings accounts. They also increased taxes on vehicles and imposed taxes on the IT sector and consultancy services,” he said.
He said the government had spoken about building a strong economy based on the information technology sector, a goal that the SLPP also supported.
However, he questioned the decision to impose VAT on IT professionals and businesses that were struggling to earn a living without government support.
