21 October 2016 12:02 am
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday welcomed the move to ease the rule on repatriation of export earnings—increased from the earlier 90 days to now 120 days— as formalised by a gazette notification
issued recently
As the Chamber had pointed out in its representations to the government when it was first announced in April, this rule hurts Sri Lanka’s export competitiveness, compromises export orders, and complicates international trade transactions.
It was also inconsistent with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s stated vision of making
Sri Lanka more open and flexible to international trade and
financial flows.
While maintaining this rule in any form is still rather restrictive, and this compulsory repatriation rule should be a temporary measure, the increase in the number of days from 90 to 120, with an additional 30 day grace period, helps to give exporters some breathing space,” a CCC statement said.
The trade chamber also said the move is important at a time when Sri Lanka’s export performance is flagging with a 5.6 percent decline in the first seven months of this year, compared to the same period
last year.
The trade chamber also reiterated that the sustainable strategy to raise export earnings should be based on enhancing competitiveness through innovation, and through export-oriented trade, investment, and macroeconomic policies.