Sri Lanka has removed a ban imposed on women from buying alcohol and working at establishments that produce or sell alcohol.
The lifting of the ban will allow females over 18 years to purchase alcohol legally and work at places of production and marketing of liquor without prior approval from the authorities.
Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera announced that he amended the schedule in the Excise Notification no.666 of the Gazette Extraordinary of 1979 to now allow females over 18 years to purchase alcohol legally and to allow women to be employed in licensed premises without prior approval from Excise Commissioner.
Minister Samaraweera last year said Sri Lanka’s archaic laws are an impediment to development and one of his key objectives as the minister in charge of finance will be to ensure that all the agencies of the ministry within a state-of-the-art legislative framework.
