Income from vehicle imports exceed projected target: Deputy Minister

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

The government has collected a total income of Rs. 904 billion from vehicle imports, exceeding the projected target of Rs. 441 billion, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nishantha Jayaweera told Parliament yesterday.  

He told Parliament that 451,770 vehicles have been imported to the country after lifting the ban on vehicle imports. The Minister said a total of 22,407 motorcycles and 313,989 three-wheelers have been imported so far.  

He said this in response to a question raised by MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena about vehicle imports.  

The MP said due to the imposition of 3 percent surcharge on vehicles, failing to register within 90 days, the consumers have to bear an additional burden as the surcharge is finally added to the price of the vehicle.   Abeygunawardena questioned on whether the government would remove the surcharge considering the difficulties, the minister responded that the surcharge is levied on the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of the vehicle for preventing hoarding vehicle stocks and saving foreign exchange.