Govt. gazettes limit to import gold above 22 carats as jewellery

In an effort to prevent smuggling, the Government has issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification restricting over 22 carats of gold as jewellery brought into the country.

“Several cases of gold smuggling into the country were reported during the recent period under the guise of wearing the gold jewellery upon entering the country,” the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry in a statement issued yesterday noted.

As per the Gazette notification issued by President Wickremesinghe, a special permit will now be required to bring in gold jewellery of over 22 carats into the country.

The statement also noted that the authorities have discovered that around 50 kg of gold are smuggled into the country daily and has lost around $ 30 million monthly as a result of such smuggling activities.

It added that an organised group of people are engaged in gold smuggling activities on a daily basis due to the lack of restrictions on carrying gold into the country.

State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has directly intervened in this regard and looked into the matter together with the Department of Customs, the statement added. 

The statement also added that the second largest haul of illegally smuggled gold in history was found by Sri Lanka Customs on 9 December 2022, highlighting that 22 kilos of gold with an estimated value of over Rs. 400 million were found in the operation.