Sri Lanka media outlets reported on Thursday – citing the country’s State Minister of Finance – that the authorities there had received applications for 10 new casinos, but none had so far been approved.
“We have brought in new laws pertaining to casinos and therefore a sum of LKR500 million [US$1.6 million] will be charged when granting a licence for a period of five years,” the minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was cited as telling the nation’s parliament.
He added: “We also intend to increase entrance fees for casinos. Our intention is to discourage locals from going into casinos.”
In August the same minister was reported saying that a Sri Lanka Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill and a body known as the Gambling Regulatory Authority – the latter proposal reported in June – would regulate what was termed as “lotteries, gambling, gaming, horse racing, [and] betting shops as well as casinos”. The latter definition was according to a report from the Sunday Times of Sri Lanka.
