Customs expects a 10% income growth in 2015: DG

Monday, 25 May 2015 01:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Charumini de Silva

Sri Lanka’s Customs Department expects a 10% growth in its income with the implementation of the new container scanning system, a senior official said.

The department is currently in the process of short-listing companies to scan containers that are coming to Colombo. By next month Customs will have a company to scan the containers.

The institution of the new container scanning facility will increase income generation within the department as new taxable items will be scanned, Sri Lanka Customs Department Director General Jagath Wijeweera told Daily FT.

At present the department has the capacity to scan only 5% of the total containers that need to be scanned.

He said that with expectations to minimise the revenue leakages, the department expects an income of over Rs. 650 billion by the end of this year. It is therefore important to monitor both imports and exports closely in order to achieve this target.

Wijeweera said the department was well-equipped to improve Ease of Doing Business with minimum human involvement and asserted that the duties of the department should reflect the level of protection for local industries.