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Access Engineering Chairman Sumal Perera
I represent the engineering and construction sector. As all of you know, this is a sector that is growing higher than the country’s growth rate and we cannot ask for more than what we have already got. Other than to say that would like to see consistent policies on tax that has been in place for the past four years to be continued to medium to long term to facilitate our corporate investment plans – since as corporates we have to take a medium to long term view now and to do so we need to have some assurance that the present tax and policy regime would continue – we don’t have much to ask for.
The second thing that I would like to bring to the notice of the Treasury and Inland Revenue officials is that time has come for our industries to move overseas and in doing so there is a small impediment. As per the present tax law you have to bring all the revenue back to Sri Lanka and send all the expenditure out to be recognised. This is not practical since when you go to countries such as Africa you are expected to only bring back the net income, which is practical.
I would like to see an amendment made to the existing law allowing the audited net income to be recognised for tax purposes. We cannot open branches for this purpose but have to do it with the parent company because the foreign companies want to hold the parent company responsible and in doing so it is not practical to bring all the revenue and then send the expenditure from here. At the moment that is the written law. We would like to see this change.
Aitken Spence Deputy Chairman Rajan Brito
I mainly represent the tourism industry. I would like a level playing field where we find foreign remittances are not coming to the country from small boutique hotels owned by foreigners. Mainly these are not even registered at the Tourist Board and there is no mechanism to monitor them. Remittances are collected through the web and only expenditure that is incurred here, that may be only part of the income is remitted to the country. And because of this these owners, mainly foreigners, may not be paying VAT, Cess and no income tax as well.
With regard to the Land Bill, it does not address foreigners who already own property, and is addressing the problem only for the future. I would like to suggest that do something like when overseas contractors come, there is a deemed tax. Countries such as Spain and UK have this for various areas. Stamp duties in the UK for offshore companies are five times the normal tax. Similarly in Spain they have deemed tax every 10 years so foreign companies have to pay the tax. I would like a similar model introduced here for people who already own existing land.
Group holding companies are not recognised at all in the tax structure. Hence there is no encouragement to take over smaller companies and consolidate in any way like the banks, and balance sheets will not be strong enough to permit offshore borrowings. Some of the largest private groups do not have a holding company; instead the same owners hold shares directly in each company or cluster of few companies. This will also encourage companies to be quoted on the Stock Exchange.
Presently VAT is being charged from one company to the other in the group. This is bureaucratic and time wasting as the tax effect is neutral. Group VAT exemption should be permitted. Finally, I would like to say that some old tax files cannot be closed by the Department because there appears to be no record especially where GST and NSL is concerned, if this could also be addressed.
Akbar Brothers Director
Azgi Akbarally
In the tea trade too there is not much to ask for, but there are a couple of issues I would like to address. First is the tea promotion and marketing fund which currently stands at Rs. 4.4 billion and is completely underutilised. Many proposals have been called for but nothing really has happened. The latest paper put forward by the Minister is to match Sri Lankan companies and brands in their promotion budgets by 50% from the fund and also to reintroduce the assistance scheme because of the prevalent investment in high tech machineries in the tea industry. The balance 50% could be used by the Tea Board for unilateral promotions.
Again on the tea promotion and marketing fund there is a Cess of Rs. 3. 50 that is currently being collected to build this fund; should we continue or should there be a one year cessation as the funds collected have not been used?
Another point I would like to bring up is small holders, those who hold below four acres of land. They are desperately looking for some sort of subsidies for replanting. It takes approximately two years for them to pluck again and in those two years they have no subsistence for replanting on the small blocks they have. I hope that can be looked at.
Brandix Lanka CEO Ashroff Omar
I represent the apparel sector. Over the years we have been working closely with Dr. Jayasundera and other senior Treasury officials and consequently we have seen the apparel sector continue to grow in spite of many challenges overseas. Even for this Budget we have already given our proposals to the Treasury. Primarily, though my other colleagues are happy, they have nothing to ask; we have been spoilt by having tax holidays and have been told in no uncertain terms that they will not be extended so we have humbly accepted that position.
However, what we want to do now is that, the Government in the last Budget took some bold measures with regard to terminal handling charges which have helped the industry tremendously. Also there as a statement that the Government looks upon the Sri Lankan apparel industry to be one of the top 10 in the world and towards that end we have decided this year that due to the shortage of labour, we will be going for more automation and upgrading of equipment. So we have made proposals asking for certain higher deduction of depreciation. We have made those proposals and I believe they have been looked upon. Other than that we have got most of what we wanted. Now the next step is to fine-tune our requirements and go to the next level.
One more thing is that we have not leveraged on our hub regulations when they came in. It took a couple of years to iron out the wrinkles but from next year the hub activities also should grow significantly.
Lanka Confectionery Manufacturers Association Chairman Sylvester Perera
We have three key issues. First is high import duties and Cess on raw materials needed by our industry that are not even manufactured in Sri Lanka. Second is that the current Customs regulations act as a disincentive to the SMI confectionery for manufacturers to even think of entering into an export market. The third is the Government’s delay in debating and passing into law the all-important Anti Dumping and Countervailing Bill presented to the Parliament in 2006 and free advertising through satellite TV.
Taking the first subject, i.e. the high import duties and Cess on some important raw material, you all are aware the biscuits manufactured in Sri Lanka have won the confidence of consumers the world over. The duty, Cess and other taxes charged on whey powder, a commonly used ingredient, is 266% whilst the CIF price of the product to the manufacturer works out to around Rs. 150. Among the other raw materials carrying a high rate of duty or Cess are specialised fats, maize, grits and wrapping and packaging materials.
My next point I would like to bring to your urgent attention is about the difficulty or the impossibility that an SMI confectionery manufacturer currently has in exporting any products manufactured by him. The TEEP scheme which is in operation is not practical for SMI sector.
It is noted that under the current import Duty Rebate Rules 1998 that the import duty rebate rules applies only to manufacturers who export the products manufactured by them. Thus, under the current rules a manufacturer who exports products manufactured by one of their subsidiary manufacturing companies do not come within the current Import Duty Rebate Rules. Neither does a SMI manufacturer who exports through another.
We suggest that an additional clause or sentence be added on to Section 3 of the ‘Import Duty Rebate Rules 1998’ where a manufacturer who exports through another manufacturer in Sri Lanka is also entitled to the import duty rebate scheme.
My third and last subject is dumping and countervailing. We strongly suggest, even at this stage, to have this Bill be taken up for debate and brought into the law with the least delay. The LCMA considers this as most important in the country’s interests. We do not think that the Government should wait till a dangerous position or situation comes about with a very large consignment of a product being dumped here. It is far better and more advisable to have the Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Regulations in place to immediate take action on any country or exporter trying to dump a product or products of theirs onto our own country.
DSI Group Managing Director Kulathunga Rajapakse
With regard to the rubber industry, the rubber end product has been growing by 10% but unfortunately natural rubber production is not keeping pace with the increase production of the end product market. Therefore the situation is that the natural rubber production has gone down rather than increasing and the main reason is that the rubber prices are high during certain periods and has reduced, resulting small holders to stop tapping. This along with the unfavourable weather conditions has affected rubber production in the market resulting in a shortage.
Rubber takes about seven years gestation period to generate returns so there should be a long term plan to ensure smooth replanting and production of natural rubber. At present we have the replanting subsidy but according to the information we have received it is said it is not enough. Even though the rubber price goes up, smallholders expect assistance in replanting of rubber. In Malaysia during dull periods they assist tappers who contribute the production of natural rubber. They give them a one-time payment to the tappers to keep them going since if they don’t tap the production won’t come in.
In the case of footwear there is a Cess of Rs. 500 per pair. To overcome that Cess many are importing the product in two components, upper and sole separately. Therefore we expect for the upper part to have a 50% of the existing Cess.
On the tile industry, we have to do mining from tanks and that is a laborious exercise and there are no incentives to mine clay from tanks. When mining clay from tanks, importance is given to the water-retaining capacity, therefore there should be encouragement for the tile industry to mine tanks. That is not available and instead we are taxed. We suggest to be given some encouragement in this regard.
Emirates Area Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Chandana De Silva
In the aviation industry, I represent the Board of Airline Executives and we have three areas to be addressed. The first one is having positioned Sri Lanka as an aviation and maritime hub, and I will add to that the cargo hub that is trying to come, we need to have a very transparent fuel policy. To be competitive we have been talking to the relevant parties but unfortunately we don’t have a proper answer. There is a mechanism for the pricing policy for the aviation field called PLATTS and we would encourage Sri Lanka to look at that formula.
The second is that if we are positioning Sri Lanka as a maritime, aviation and cargo hub, the connectivity in and out of Sri Lanka is of fundamental importance so the hub concept should look at an open sky policy into and out of the country. This may have a grey area so one has to address that and look at it.
The final comment is tourism related. As you know, Sri Lanka has a minimum selling price and this is acting as a huge deterrent for most of the airlines and what I am recommending is to have a high season and an off season fare into the country so we can encourage passengers coming during the so-called low season into the country and into Colombo.
Those are the three factors the airline industry would like to present.
Cornucopia Lanka Managing Director Dinesh Weerakkody
I was asked to talk about skills and to begin with, we all know that Sri Lanka need a well-educated workforce and needs to continuously add new skills to the current skills inventory if we are to sustain the current levels economic growth to get to the 2016 GDP target. Also with the current development in the BPO and tourism sector as well as the new employment opportunity in countries such as South Korea, there is now a pressing need for our education system to reorient and deliver these new skills. However, we are confronted with two big challenges. The first is that the current civil development infrastructure both in the public and private sectors cannot deliver the number and the quality desire.
The second is that the existence of stringent labour market regulations, which limit training opportunities for young people to learn and grow new skills. Therefore we need to address these issues within our higher education system and the labour market by strengthening the public private links to ensure our higher education system becomes demand driven.
I would like to suggest the following:
To set up a public private skills development council like in Singapore as an apex body, like what the UDA is for urban development in Sri Lanka. To bring all skills and training infrastructure under one roof to ensure alignment with country’s development goals.
In addition to that the Skills Development Fund that was set up in 1996 with an initial capital of Rs. 100 million to be restructured to ensure and to give representation to sectors such as apparel, financial services, retail, BPO and engineering. This will ensure that all sectors will have the required skills for the future.
Expolanka Holdings Group MD Hanif Yusoof
I represent the shipping and the logistics industry. One of the boldest steps taken by the Government was the hub regulation, which is poised to help Sri Lanka to be a maritime and commercial hub. However, my suggestion is that we need a single entity of private and public participation to promote not only the hub activity, but all areas of private and public partition. It is important to promote the hub strategy to industries.
One of the most important areas of shipping and logistics is the flow of information. That is as important as the flow of power. We have still not really linked all our systems together. In Singapore, there is just one document that goes across all State bodies that require permission. Now we go through almost 30 to 40 documents to send a shipment. We need to have an independent trade facility. My suggestion is to bring an Act that will consolidate all the State institutions to have this facilitation up and running since we have been talking about it for many years.
Shipping and logistics are interrelated and the taxation for the shipping industry was reduced in the last Budget from 28% to 12% and we hope that can be done for the logistics industry also.
Grant McCann Erickson Sri Lanka Chairperson Neela Marrikar
For the advertising industry there is just one key issue that I would like to address. Still 25% of advertising is added back and we want to request that this be a fully-allowed expense because we need to stimulate the advertising industry and we need to invest more in this. This is one area that we would like to request that be considered.
A couple of other recommendations that I would like to suggest is that we desperately need to attract young Sri Lankans from overseas to return. We need the talent and the skill and there are lots of skilled talented young Sri Lankans overseas. Is there a way in which we can bring them back? Is there an incentive? Will there be an offering of dual citizenship and long-term work permits? Companies also can incentivise to bring them back since we need to reconnect young Sri Lankans back to this country to look at working, living and bringing their skills back to the country.
One other area I would say is that while there are lot of good things that are being done with regard to the regulations and policies, we need to have a brand campaign to raise the profile of Sri Lanka, especially in the countries that we export to. While we have business-to-business relationships with our companies, they may not know what is going on here. By and large as a country we need to invest in this because it is a key area and for this businesses and the governments need to work together for this.
Given all the situations that are evolving internationally, it is imperative that we be strong on this. We have a great story to tell.
Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce Consultant Azmi Thassim
I am representing the regions and also the SMEs. At the district level chamber we are grateful for the Government’s decision to invest in the infrastructure. Hambantota especially has benefitted a lot and I am sure the north and east are benefitting from this. But still we want to make a request in terms of education and health and also vocational training and tertiary education areas. We would request if the Government can invest more so people need not travel to the centre to get this type of services. It is a request to have more investment in those fields.
We will need to focus on the SMEs in the region and rural areas since they are the people who need the support in terms of incentives or any other benefits that can be offered it will be welcome. Rice millers have formed into an association in the Hambantota District and they have been negotiating with the Government on various aspects on pricing. In their tax structure they are requesting if the Government can consider linking it with electricity consumption so there will be some standard and some straightforwardness in it.
For tourism as it is well known we are expanding the region but places that are of interest such as Yala need investment. This needs to be done with the community so the regional chambers can also play a role. In some way of encouragement if the Government as the policymaker can look into this and to allocate come funds to work on this, it would be appreciated.
The regional chambers from around the country are also playing an important role so they have to be supported. They are expected to pay tax, which is good, but as a non-profit organisation when we are developing our regional chambers to come to a sustainable situation, if we can do away with the tax it would be good but it would be welcome if lower rates are considered.
We also formed women’s chambers and in their discussions we have found that the Government has offered them a special loan scheme, which is good; however it is focused on livelihoods and micro enterprises. We would like that to be extended to the SME level, the interest free loan or low interest rates.
Finally there is lots of concession for manufacturing and production, the SME traders are also requesting some interest from the banks for their funds to be considered at a reasonable level.
H
ayleys Chairman Mohan Pandithage
We are encouraged by the Government initiatives but we have a problem with the regulatory environment. Today we have to go to the BOI as well as the CEA to get our environmental documents. If we can have one body to get these licences, it will be appreciated.
In the floriculture exports we have to go to four Government departments – Wildlife Conservation, Forest Department, Agriculture Department and Plant Quarantine. If we have one place to get these approvals, that will expedite exports.
Then in the existing and planned industrial zones, to have industrial water and waste disposal facilities it will be good to look into. Then the agriculture exports and glove exports require certain testing certificates from Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) and presently they don’t have the equipment for that. We need to strengthen the equipment base in ITI to get these testing. At the quarantine division at the airport, while exporting papaya they require certain certificates and we do not have the testing facilities for that.
There is also a shortage of labour in some of the factories producing rubber products. The cost of manufacturing is higher than what is being paid for. It will be good to have some concessions on that.
Hemas Holding
s Chairman Husein Esufally
From the perspective of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the situation is that local pharmaceutical companies comprise about 10% of all pharmaceutics that are consumed. We are appreciative of the support given to us so far in enhancing this sector but we need to be more competitive if we are going forward in matching the health needs.
When the country is going forward we really need to invest, modernise and increase the capacity of these plants. My suggestion is to look at setting up of a pharma manufacturing zone inside the National Science Park, which is in proximity to SLINTEC as well. We think this could create a good ecosystem for the industry to operate in. Whilst manufacturers would invest in the plant and equipment, the Government is required to look at the funds for infrastructure and incentive to have the manufacturers to relocate the equipment.
On the FMCG space, today the industry generates $ 1.5 billion per annum, of which local brands constitute not more than 25%. This is an important sector in the country. The challenge in going forward is to upgrade our products to match those that are coming from the multinationals and also how to scale up our operations.
On the R&D side we are appreciative of the taxation benefits and we would like to suggest that the triple taxation benefits that have been offered for external research houses be extended for in-house R&D as well.
Again on the subject of local brands, we feel there is an anomaly here since there is a 25% add back for advertising. For local brands this adverting is mostly done in Sri Lanka so we get the add back but for many MNCs the advertisements are from cable and they are not subject to this tax. We would suggest that the 25% add back be waived for brands that are owned and registered in Sri Lanka.
There is also a lot of overregulation in these industries. I am sure these are with good intentions but it is stumping consumer demand. I would like to highlight once particular case where the Consumer Affairs Authority has deemed it fit to impose legislation on various industries that have to have a safety sticker on their products such as soaps, beverages, toothpaste, etc. This would cost Rs. 2 on a pack and for those who do not have automated lines it would be so much more. Rs. 3-4 on a bar of soap that costs Rs. 20 is an enormous indirect tax to the consumer. In desperation this matter is now before court and this particular legislation means that it will be a minimum cost of Rs. 2.5 billion and it will further impact consumer demand.
JKH Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunewardene
Based on the backdrop of the strong macro environment from the GDP growth of 7% plus and the low inflation rates and record low interest rates, today the housing mortgage market accounts for only 7% of the total loans in banking system. In places like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, it is in the range of 20-25%. Basically this is the result of the upturn of local banks to lend and pick on fixed rate on long-term as a result of long-term volatility in the past. However, the -term interest rate will trigger a boom in housing and will have a multiplier effect of many industries and would create significant employment.
I would suggest that banks to be instructed to have 15% of their loan book in long-term, in access of 20 years, in fixed single digit where the rate will be fixed for seven years mortgages. This I believe also goes well with the Government’s policy of having housing for all. This exercise was done with agriculture and was successful.
With the change in demographics and the low interest rate scenario in this economic environment, it is imperative that we create a long-term savings culture.
Hence, it is important to stimulate and grow the market for pension plans. Malaysia is an important example where it introduced a scheme where investment in 24 designated funds run by eight licensed companies had tax deductable up to a certain value.
I suggest a similar scheme be introduced.
The earlier suggestion that I made creates the asset side of the balance sheet and this creates the liability side. It potentially eliminates long term funding mismatches.
The tourism industry is one area that has the potential to contribute an excess of $ 10 billion to the economy in the next six to seven years. In addition, it has a massive multiplier effect, in fact the largest of all industries.
The tourism industry has also included the emergence of a booming SME sector as well and in terms of employment it is not a minimum wage employer. Further, the skills and knowledge in this industry allows the workforce to be globally employable. It is not a cheap industry as well. Further it is almost completely private sector driven.
I suggest that you convene a taskforce with an action plan that will allow the industry to achieve its maximum potential and in addition the mandate of the taskforce would be to ensure that the uniqueness of the country is protected while achieving this growth. There is always a danger that unplanned growth and under-regulation can destroy the true potential of this industry. Now is the time to manage this.
On the Land Bill, a lot of work needs to be done on this to ensure the intent is achieved and the unintentional peripheral impacts are avoided.
Indian CEOs Forum Director and Lanka IOC Managing Director Subodh Dakwale
I am representing the Indian CEO forum and I have a few points complied from them. The first point is that the mark-up on CIF on the importation of goods is 10%. This adds to the cost of goods and the 1.2% considering the VAT applicable on this. If you do amend this, it will help lot of raw material importers and consumers also by way of reduction of cost.
The Land Bill is causing a lot of ripples amongst the companies that have got foreign investments. I know that a lot of thoughts are going on and we request that the BOI and listed companies should be kept out of this so we can happily do our business here.
As far as petroleum is concerned, there is concern over the pricing formula. There has been a lot of turbulence in the pricing of petroleum product and often it is coming down. If we have an automatic pricing formula it should pave the way for infrastructure development and will also remove the uncertainties of the oil companies and we will be able to have long-term planning in developing our infrastructure.
Another point is on bunkering. In the last one-and-a-half years we have seen a drastic drop in bunkering business in the country. From our 40,000 metric tons per month, we have come down to 30,000 metric tons. This also impacts our foreign exchange for the country. So far there is only bunkering at Colombo Port, because we have permission only for that.
The Government is planning on giving some facilities and drafting some policies for bonding but before and till it comes into effect it is becoming uneconomical for us to do bonding in other ports also. I suggest Section 22 of Custom Ordinance provides for 90% duty drawback in case of re-exports of imported goods. If the same is applied for the bunker products also, we will be able to do bunkering in other ports as well. We will be able to be competitive with neighbouring country ports, which will again get us a lot of foreign exchange.
One point which has come from the cement industry – it is noted that for companies that are bringing their own goods in their own ships, CIF is determined by having 15% of goods valued as transportation costs. This becomes far less than the actual transportation cost for goods like cement. Companies that have their own ships get a lot of advantage to the extent of $ 3-4 per metric ton. It is suggested that all players should be brought on to a level playing field and the CIF should be determined by adding 15% even for the companies that have their own ships. That will put them on a level playing field and competition will be healthy. The last is that any duties and taxes levied should be prospective.
LAUGFS Gas Chairman W.K.H. Wegapitiya
The hub concept emphasises making Sri Lanka an energy hub and also talks about the maritime hub. Fortunately, we have the strategic location specific advantages and now many infrastructures are in place including the Hambantota seaport, which is close to the sea route and to the Indian Ocean. My first request is to give some encouragement to companies which would like to invest in energy infrastructure not only to cater to the Sri Lanka demand requirement but also to the regional demand by giving strategic investment advantage with regard to the amount of investment.
In making Sri Lanka a maritime hub, it will be good to give come concession, encouragement and incentives for companies which invest in shipping and its building and repairs, especially in relation to transporting energy products.
The last recommendation is to encourage and introduce fully-electric vehicles; at the moment there is 15% import tax. We would like to remove this 15% tax and 20% VAT and charge during the annual registration. Also we would like some concessions to set up solar harness electric discharging stations.
Royal Ceramics Managing Director Nimal Perera
Thank you for giving much protection for ceramics and sanitary ware. But we are still having difficulties since there are imports of products similar to what is already being produced in the country. We produce world class tiles and sanitary ware. My request is to introduce low prices in order to control the under invoicing and not paying duty scenario.
The second request is to introduce an anti-dumping levy in order to stop countries such as China dumping garbage in Sri Lanka.
The third request is that we are having serious problems when selling to Government institutions. Since the importers don’t pay duty and taxes correctly, they pass part of the sale to most of the consultants. As a corporate body, we cannot pay such fees to those consultants. Therefore, we are having a serious situation where we cannot be a part of most of the Government projects. To protect local industries, we request Government institutions to be issued a directive to buy from local industries. The price can be decided by the Government as we are not asking for big profits from such projects.
With regard to rubber, the cost of production is higher than the sales. The solution is to diversify and the main area is palm oil. However, there was a directive from the Government to not to go for palm oil in order to protect rubber. It will be appreciated if that could be reconsidered.
99X Technologies Managing Director Mano Sekaram
I represent the IT industry. We have a very ambitious plan to make the IT industry reach $ 5 billion by 2022. What we require in order to achieve this is that we have launched a program to build 1,000 start-ups. Primarily what is important for our industry is to foster entrepreneurship and for this we need Government institutions to reach out to give risk capital to our entrepreneurs and take this across the country to all regions. This is vital since the next wave of growth will come from companies that are still not born. It is important to have a private-public partnership as it will foster start-ups and entrepreneurship. That is our first request and we have made proposals regarding this.
The second thing is that our industry is very dependent on skilled labour and I know the education system is going through a lot of transformation and what is required is industry workforce. So this training institute and education system can take our workforce to a certain extent but what is required is an industry-ready workforce. For this we need to have a program of internship with existing companies, where they will be given incentives to churn out industry-ready workforce.
Our final request is access to the market. If you go to any boardrooms in any part of the world, Sri Lanka will be known for its gems, tourism and tea, but we really need to transform this image to show that we are a knowledge-based industry and we have knowledge to offer. That is an important image we have to create. I really request that in this Budget we have allocation for branding Sri Lanka and also very specifically as a knowledge destination.
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
Standard Chartered CEO Anirvan GhoshI will touch on the divergence of credit and GDP growth as the hot topic for banks right now is credit growth. Fortunately and unfortunately, credit growth impacts three sectors in the GDP, essentially insurance, private services and dwellings. That is about 16% of GDP and that has offset us for the country with the strong construction activity and export part.
Having said that, the Central Bank has done everything it could and the rates are at an all-time low. There was a valid point on mortgage financing and I think the struggle for financing is applicable for large private sector banks, since they can match long-term deposits into long-term funding because seven years fixed on the liability side and probably five years held by the large banks.
We see that in the first half of next year there will be an uptake because of global demand and financial conditions easing. And that should again put pressure on imports and consumptions.
On getting a good PR campaign on Sri Lanka, I think one of the ways in which we are already doing it is as MNCs, we do a lot of foreign business and that in many ways becomes a branding exercise since we are promoting Sri Lankan enterprises in the power and apparel sector.
On SMEs, there is a big push by the Central Bank as interest rates are at an all-time low. Next year we hope that consumption takes off and everything that is being discussed here takes the economy in a different direction and hopefully the credit growth will go up as right now it is at 1-2% and it is getting challenging for us as banks. |
Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera’s take |
