The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has issued necessary recommendations to the Finance Ministry on the import of vehicles in such a way that there is no obstruction to Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said.
In 2022, Sri Lanka faced the worst economic crisis in history. At that time, the then government imposed import restrictions on more than two thousand goods including vehicles.
But the restrictions were gradually relaxed, allowing several goods to be imported. Accordingly, the final relaxation should be to allow import to flow in without restriction. Accordingly, the previous government had focused on giving full permission for the import of vehicles by February of next year.
At a press conference held at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka yesterday, a journalist asked the Central Bank Governor whether there will be a change in that decision now.
The Governor said that he had already given the recommendations to the Treasury to import vehicles in a manner that would not affect Sri Lanka’s official foreign reserves.
But he emphasized that the Finance Ministry should take the decision whether to allow vehicle imports that way.
