An extraordinary Gazette notification was issued yesterday revoking the import restrictions on 10 items with effect from today, State Minister for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.

Addressing the media, he said restrictions on several items that helped promote tourism in the country had been revoked.

According to reports, import restrictions on energy drinks, MDF boards used to make furniture, sports equipment and CCTV camera systems had been lifted, the State Minister said.

The Government stated that this is the third time it had lifted import restrictions on essential items.

"The Government had imposed import restrictions as a measure to limit import expenses. In 2020, the import cost was indicated at USD 16,055 million, and it was USD 20,637 in 2021. Therefore, the Government decided to impose import restrictions on 1,465 goods as of August 23. Accordingly, the Government had managed to save USD 1,211 million after imposing the import restrictions," the State Minister said.

"The Government had spent USD 1666.5 on the importation of foods, USD 882.5 on medicines, USD 3,742.9 mn on fuel importation, and USD 158.2 on the importation of fertilizer," he said.

However, based on requests from the Chamber of Commerce, industrial entrepreneurs and other parties, including BOI-approved companies, import restrictions on several items were lifted three times.

708 items had been released on September 9, 77 items had been released on November 23 and 10 items had been released on December 19 (today). (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)