Govt. stands firm: No tax-free vehicle imports

Colombo, June 26 (Daily Mirror) - The government has not decided to grant permission to the state officials or any other individuals to import vehicles tax-free or allocate foreign exchange for them, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.

Addressing the weekly meeting to announce the Cabinet decisions, he said President Ranil Wickremesinghe, also serving as the Finance Minister, expressed his intention to proceed accordingly.

“We are relaxing the limits on vehicle imports, following extensive studies because the country is currently constrained by loan agreements with the International Monetary Fund. According to the agreement, there are conditions and prerequisites to be fulfilled. We cannot ease restrictions at the cost of eroding foreign reserves,” Gunawardana said.

Accordingly, Wickremesinghe has appointed a committee to develop a procedure, taking their ideas into consideration, the minister said.

While no decision has been made to import vehicles yet, the decision would be based on the committee’s recommendations, he added.

Earlier, Wickremesinghe expressed the intention to relax the existing limitations on vehicle imports, starting from 2025.