Tag: Sri Lanka

Chandrasiri Joins Ceylon Tobacco Board

Image: Ink Drop
BAT subsidiary Ceylon Tobacco Co. has appointed Samanmalee Chandrasiri as a non-executive director to its board, reports EconomyNext.
A globally experienced professional with nearly two decades of expertise in human resources, Chandrasiri started her career in 2006 with HR business partnering roles at BAT Sri Lanka.
As BAT South Asia area head of talent, she managed talent strategies across Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. This led to her position as organization effectiveness advisor in BAT Indonesia.
She served as HR director for BAT Sri Lanka and for Malaysia and Singapore.
She assumed duties as group head of organization effectiveness and talent management in July 2019, operating from London.
Chandrasiri served as group head of HR for global marketing, scientific research and development before taking the role of group head of talent, organization effectiveness and inclusion (London), where she led the global center of expertise on talent, organization effectiveness, diversity and inclusion
In October 2024, she stepped into her current role as group head of HR and inclusion—global operations and R&D.

November 11, 2024
Tax Collections Up Even as Smoking Drops

Image: eyegelb
Sri Lanka managed to increase tobacco tax collections while reducing tobacco consumption over the past decade, reports Xinhua.
According to State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, tobacco consumption in Sri Lanka declined by 41.9 percent between 2015 and 2023. During the same period, the state’s revenue increased by 36 percent.
In 2015, Sri Lankans smoked 3.96 billion cigarettes, whereas by 2023, this figure had dropped to 2.3 billion cigarettes, Siyambalapitiya said.
Despite this reduction, the state’s revenue from cigarette taxes rose from LKR81.15 billion ($262 million) in 2015 to LKR110 billion in 2023, the state minister said.
In the past two years alone, cigarette consumption decreased by 17 percent, while tax revenue increased by 6 percent.
August 22, 2024
New Year, New Taxes

Image: Xuejun Li
Tobacco taxes increased in several countries at the start of 2024.
In Sri Lanka, an upward revision in excise duty and value added tax prompted market leader Ceylon Tobacco Co. to raise the price of four cigarette categories by LKR5 ($0.02), LKR15, LRK20 and LKR25 per stick, respectively, reports the Asian Mirror.
The government justified the tax hikes by its desire to boost revenue streams while discouraging tobacco consumption.
Azerbaijan, meanwhile, increased the excise rate for cigarettes from AZN38 ($22.35) per 1,000 sticks to AZN45.5 per 1,000 sticks, according to AzerNews. The excise rate for cigarillos went from AZN43 per 1,000 sticks to AZN45.5 per 1,000 sticks.
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are now subject to a tax of AZN16 per 1,000 units, compared with AZN14 per 1,000 units in 2023.
The excise rate for single-use electronic cigarettes, hookahs and their substitutes went up from AZN0.25 manats to AZN2.
In Belgium, as new e-liquid tax took of €0.15 per milliliter took effect on Jan. 1
January 1, 2024
Sri Lanka Urged to Diversify Crops

Photo: Rawpixel.com
The government of Sri Lanka should incentivize tobacco farmers to abandon the golden leaf if favor of alternative crops, according to a new publication from the Institute of Policy Studies or Sri Lanka.
The study, reported The Sunday Observer, notes that tobacco farmers can earn better profits from cultivating other crops such as chili, brinjal, carrot, bitter gourd, cabbage and big onion.
In 2017, the government declared it would ban tobacco farming in Sri Lanka by the end of 2020. While its deadline has lapsed, leaf cultivation has declined significantly in recent years. In 2020, 1,142 hectares, or 0.04 percent of Sri Lanka’s agricultural land, was dedicated to tobacco, according to the most recent statistics. Production totaled 9,224 metric tons that year.
Among other recommendations, the study authors suggest building farmer resilience and strengthening the policy frameworks for alternative crops.
These supply-side measures, they argue, could be complemented with demand-side measures to disincentivize the manufacturers from engaging in tobacco production and prevent nontobacco farmers from joining the industry.
The also called for higher tobacco taxes and more awareness of the adverse health effects of tobacco consumption.
January 16, 2023
Sri Lanka Increases Tobacco Duty

Image: MaciejBledowski | Adobe Stock
The government of Sri Lanka increased the excise duty on alcohol and cigarettes by 20 percent, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said the duty was raised to increase state revenue and discourage alcohol and cigarette consumption. In 2021, Sri Lanka collected LKR249.6 billion ($687 million) in taxes from alcohol and tobacco products, according to Siyambalapitiya.
January 4, 2023
Sri Lanka Mulls Cigarette Price Increase

Photo: MemoryMan
Sri Lanka may increase the price of cigarettes as part of its upcoming budget, according to the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), reports Sri Lanka Mirror.
A suggestions has also been put forward to ban the retail sale of single cigarettes in Sri Lanka. The objective of this proposal is to reduce the number of people who smoke.
Meanwhile, a survey jointly conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics, NATA and the Ministry of Health has revealed that 51 percent of adults who smoke in Sri Lanka believe that they should quit smoking.
November 3, 2022
Sri Lanka Plans Annual Tobacco Tax Hikes

Photo: sezerozger
Sri Lanka’s National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) wants to change taxes so that cigarette prices increase by 6 percent each year, reports The Island.
The proposed tax formula comprises six components––cigarette tax percentage, proposed price for next year, inflation, present price, GDP and the “externality factor” of 4 percent.
“The 4 percent is added to ensure that the price of a cigarette is increased every year even if inflation drops to zero,” said Samadhi Rajapaksa, Chairman, NATA.
Rajapaksa noted that Sri Lankan depends less on tobacco tax revenue than many people believe. “Our tax revenue from these sources is about 11 percent only,” he said.
Earlier, Rajapaksa said that the NATA would increase the minimum age for sale, purchase and promotion of tobacco products from 21 to 24 in 2022.
Rajapaksa told the media that NATA had decided to amend the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act this year.
The increase of the minimum age for sale, purchase and promotion of tobacco products was one of the proposed amendments to the Act, he said.
“Already advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco is prohibited. We want to stop the cross border advertising of tobacco products, too,” he said.
January 3, 2022
Sri Lanka Mulls Raising Tobacco Age to 24

Photo: vladvm50
The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) of Sri Lanka wants to increase the legal age to purchase alcohol and tobacco from 21 years to 24 years, reports The Nation.
“We hope to increase the legal age to 24 years because medical science has proven that 24 years is the proper age when the brain is fully and correctly developed,” said NATA Chairman Samadhi Rajapaksa at a Dec. 29 NATA panel discussion. “We will be the first country to make it 24 years.”
The authority wants to propose this amendment to the NATA Act No.27 of 2006 in 2022, as part of a wider range of reforms that are occurring to update the existing law and regulations.
Earlier this year, more than 50 percent of respondents to NATA survey said cigarettes should not be legal in Sri Lanka.
December 30, 2021
Monisha Abraham to Lead Ceylon Tobacco
Monisha Abraham (Photo: CTC)
Ceylon Tobacco Co. (CTC) has appointed Monisha Abraham as managing director and CEO, the company announced on its website.
Prior to joining CTC, Abraham served as the managing director of Ibecor, an operating company fully owned by Heineken International. Abraham takes over from Nedal Salem who served as CTC’s managing director and CEO since May 2019.
During a career spanning over 16 years with Heineken, she has held senior management roles across five countries. Abraham joined Heineken Dubai in 2005, as trade marketing manager and in less than two years, was appointed marketing manager for the Gulf region. In 2009, she moved to the Netherlands as the regional marketing director for the Africa-Middle East region and later served as the managing director for Almaza in Lebanon from 2014 to 2017. She then moved to Heineken Hanoi as its managing director from 2017 to 2019, leading the northern area of Vietnam.
In 2019, Abraham moved to Brussels, Belgium where she took over as managing director of Ibecor, a Heineken-owned company specializing in inbound logistics and transportation for Africa and Middle East.
Possessing more than 25 years of experience in marketing and general management roles across the fast-moving consumer goods sector, Abraham has built a reputation as a leader who drives robust business strategies while developing people and fostering high performing teams. She has built networks to facilitate collaboration across organizations as well as externally to drive business priorities, delivering sustainable growth in volumes and profits.
December 6, 2021
Ceylon Tobacco Names Finance Director

Photo: Negro Elkha
Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) has appointed Syed Muhammad Ali Abrar to the position of finance director, reports The Daily Mirror of Colombo.
Ali joined BAT Pakistan in 2005 and has held leadership functions for the company in South Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and BAT’s global business services hub in Malaysia. He has experience in corporate finance, commercial finance and supply chain finance.
Ali holds a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan.
He will report to managing director/CEO Nedal Salem,
Earlier this year, CTC appointed Suresh Kumar Shah as its chairman.
September 6, 2021