Vehicle excise duty hike: PM wants to know specific period

3 August 2018 09:04 am

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who is said to be of the opinion that excise duty hike for vehicles under 1000cc engine capacity should be confined to a specific period of time had informed the Ministry of Finance to let him know as to when it could bring down the excise duty.

Sources close to Prime Minister said he had made this inquiry following the observation that had been made by finance ministry officials that the excise duty hike is an unpopular move as the government is being criticized for the hike already.

Also, others have advised the government that drastic increase of small cars with low capacity engines has given rise to a crisis where the traffic congestion is concerned. Further, it was reported that the expediting light train project will reduce this problem. (Yohan Perera)