15 April 2024 10:31 pm Views - 1512
Colombo, April 15 (Daily Mirror)- Claiming that only vehicle imports have been restricted by now, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said today that a committee is studying the possibility of permitting vehicle imports on a priority basis in the future.
He told reporters that 750 vans and 250 buses required for the tourism sector have already been permitted to be imported.
He said import of some 1,500 items had been restricted due to the economic crisis and that restriction on all items except on vehicles had been lifted by now.
“A special committee is studying the matters pertaining to the import of vehicles. The Committee is looking into what type of vehicles are essential, whether used vehicles are to be imported, what kind of used vehicles (number of years used), fuel consumption of vehicles and capacity of roads,” he said.
The Minister said vehicle imports will be allowed gradually on a priority basis after considering the requirement of the country while ensuring that the country will not run into a crisis again.
Responding to a question, he said reserves will not decrease as a result of servicing debt as installments are restructured to suit the economy of the country according to the debt restructuring process.
“Debt servicing will not deplete reserves as claimed by the opposition. Under the debt restructuring process, installments are restructured to suit the economy of the country and it will not add an additional burden to the economy,” he said.