Sri Lanka to keep lottery ticket prices

The president confirmed that they will keep the same prices over the risk of ticket sellers to quit.

Sri Lanka.- The Finance Minister of Sri Lanka, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, confirmed that the president Maithripala Sirisena made the decision to keep the lottery ticket price at Rs. 20. The initiative consisted in increasing the price from Rs. 20 to Rs. 30.

During a press conference the Minister said that the maximum authority made the decision after lengthy conversations with relevant parties that would be affected by the new measure. He confirmed that a group of lottery sellers informed him that they would not sell as much if the price was higher than the current amount. The All Ceylon Lottery Marketing Representatives Association said earlier this week that they would boycott the selling of lottery tickets across the island if the measure took effect.

The dispute came to an end after the Yapa announced the decision at the press conference. He also confirmed that lottery tickets are a significant source of income to the government since they reported US$177 million in 2015.