Cabinet nod to extend capital controls by further six months

 The Cabinet nod has been granted to extend the validity period of capital controls by further six months in order to limit the movement of foreign currency out of the country.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday to take required measures to extend the validity period of the order issued under Section No. 22 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 for another 6 months from December 30, 2022. “Taking into account the possible negative impact on the foreign exchange market, orders have been issued from time-to-time under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act to suspend/restrict remittance of foreign exchange out of the country in respect of certain capital transactions,” the Department of Government Information said. Under the current capital controls, the government has restricted foreign investments by local companies and individuals while lowering the amount of money that citizens can carry when they migrate to another country.  The capital controls were set to expire on December 29, 2022.