Govt. to remove restrictions on vehicle imports: State Minister Cabral

The government is looking for the possibility of removing restrictions on vehicles importations by the end of this year. State Minister of Finance, Money Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Niward Cabral told Parliament today.

The State Minister who responded to a question raised by Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa in Parliament said, the government will focus on granting concessions to vehicle importers as well.

“We will give whatever concessions to vehicle importers whenever it is possible,” he said.

He said so to Mr Premadasa who said that the Sri Lanka Ports were congested as a result of the large number of vehicles that had been already ordered and had arrived before the government imposed the restrictions.

“Sri Lanka had to settle sovereign bonds to the tune of Rs five billion by the end of 2014 while the country’s foreign reserves stood at $ eight billion. The interest rate was 5.71 per cent at that time. A sum of Rs 37.3 billion had to be allocated as the exchange rate of the US dollar stood at Rs. 131 while it exceeded Rs. 180 during the Yahapalana regime. Sovereign bonds worth Rs 15 billion had been issued from 2015 to 2019. This is why the economy has suffered,” State Minister Cabral said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)