The Department of Excise has seen in its revenue dip as price hikes hit consumption of legal alcohol products.

For 2022, the Department of Excise listed a revenue target of Rs. 185 billion from alcohol products, and by July this year had recorded Rs. 90 billion in income.

However, since then there has been a further significant drop in sales that has impacted revenue collection Commissioner General of Excise M.G. Gunasiri had told industry representatives last Friday during a meeting. Alcohol industry representatives too had outlined that it was difficult to achieve production and revenue targets for this year, as consumer purchasing power has been significantly impacted by the cost-of-living rise.

Excise revenue...

The twin hike in the rate VAT, the new Social Security Levy and burgeoning operations costs due to fuel and ethanol costs were also cited as reasons.

Concerns were also raised on consumers switching to illicit alcohol, as the price of legal products skyrocketed. Sri Lanka has one of the highest per capita consumption of alcohol, with the majority of consumption being illicit, reports the World Health Organisation.

Commissioner General of Excise Gunasiri had stated that the recently introduced security sticker could help reduce illicit alcohol, but this does not take into account the hundreds of illicit liquor dens that operate around the country.

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