COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s tax free listed bonds issued in the past are likely to be treated the same way until they are redeemed, according to a government minister. “The principle is that there will be no retrospective taxes,” State Minister for Finance Eran Wickramaratne told reporters.
Sri Lanka’s corporate bond markets are in limbo after new taxes were announced in the budget for 2017. About 30 billion rupees of corporate bonds which were issued preliminary ratings did not go ahead, Fitch Ratings said in June. Before 2016 tens of billions of listed bonds were issued with interest tax free in a bid to boost the market and popularize them among small investors.