Supporters of Gotabaya Rajapaksa gather for a presidential election rally in Bandaragama on Nov. 3. (Photo: AFP)
In its first cabinet meeting held in November, Sri Lanka’s caretaker government formed by newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took drastic steps to reduce people’s tax burden.
Tax cuts were among the major promises to voters during the presidential election campaign. Politicians were ready to reduce the tax burden on the poor as well as on present and future entrepreneurs.
One may think that these proposals were made with one eye on the parliamentary elections due within the next four to five months. Are they only temporary measures to keep the electorate guessing about how Sri Lanka can pay its international debt after these tax relaxations?
Click here to read the full article
….as we enter the last months of 2021, we are asking readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.
For the last 40 years, UCA News has remained the most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service from Asia. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news reports, feature stories, commentaries, podcasts and video broadcasts that are exclusive and in-depth, and developed from a view of the world and the Church through informed Catholic eyes.
Our journalistic standards are as high as any in the quality press; our focus is particularly on a fast-growing part of the world - Asia - where, in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can respond to – South Korea, Vietnam and India to name just three.
And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters who cover 23 countries in south, southeast, and east Asia. We report the stories of local people and their experiences in a way that Western news outlets simply don’t have the resources to reach. And we report on the emerging life of new Churches in old lands where being a Catholic can at times be very dangerous.
With dwindling support from funding partners in Europe and the USA, we need to call on the support of those who benefit from our work.
