Special Commodity Levy on imported fish and sugar changed

The Special Commodity Levy on imported fish has been reduced by Rs. 25 per kg and imported sugar increased by Rs. 10 kg, but the Finance Ministry insisted there would be no impact on selling prices of the latter in a statement.

The Special Commodity Levy on imported sugar has been increased to Rs. 23 per kg from the current levy of Rs. 13 per kg.

“Though this levy has been increased from Tuesday, there is no impact on the selling price of sugar in the market as the world market price on sugar is continuously declining,” the statement said. The FOB price of a kilogram of a sugar was Rs. 89 in October 2016 and has now come down to Rs. 69 per kg.

The Government intends to pass the benefit of this increased levy to farmers engaged in sugarcane cultivation.

The Government has also reduced the Special Commodity Levy on imported wet fish by Rs. 25 per kg effective from Wednesday. 

Due to the inclement weather that prevailed in the recent past fish production in the country has been affected and the Government as a concession to consumers has reduced this levy from Rs. 75 to Rs. 50 per kilogram on imported fish. Sri Lanka imports around 2,000 MT of fish per month for local consumption.