SL at risk of losing US$ 2Bn if GSP+ concession withdrawn

Sri Lanka was at the risk of losing US$ 2 billion if the GSP+ concession was withdrawn, State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said yesterday.

He told Parliament that it was important to take action to ensure that the GSP+ concession was intact.

“Some people say that we can go to the open market. But,we do not have a proper mechanism for that,” he said. The Minister said the Government entrusted him as the Minister responsible for the Garment Industry, to record a revenue of US$ 6.1 billion from the apparel export within this year and added that US$ 2 billion has been recorded in the first quarter of this year so far.

He said it was important to provide a grace period to Small and Medium Scale industrialists to pay off their loans.“about 4 million employees are employed in the apparel industry. It is important to support Small and Medium Scale industrialists in this pandemic situation,” he said. (AJITH SIRIWARDANA AND YOHAN PERERA)