Import restrictions on 300 more items to be eased: State Minister 

State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said yesterday the import restrictions on another 300 items will be removed at the end of this week reducing the limited goods list to a total of 1,216. 

The Government implemented various decisions to overcome the worst economic crisis. The small and medium-scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) were the most impacted by decisions like the introduction of new taxes, raising interest rates, and increasing import restrictions for the welfare of the majority of the people. “However, the results of those decisions taken by the Government now see the results to raise incomes and preserve foreign reserves,” he told the Parliament.

Noting that the amount of workers’  remittances has increased significantly over the past five months, he said it was nearly $ 2 billion. “Workers remittances received in April were $ 454 million and the cumulative figure in the first five months was at $ 1,867.2 million. Thereby, the official reserves have risen close to $ 3 billion now,” he added.

He also said the rupee appreciated by 20% whilst the inflation dropped from 70% to 25.5% and interest rates were slashed by 2.5%.Siyambalapitiya said the benefits of economic recovery and stability will be passed on to the people.