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Tough measures to check fall of rupee; moves to curtail imports
View(s):The Government last night introduced a series of measures to ease the pressure on the Sri Lankan rupee. Under the measures introduced, importers would have to deposit 100 percent on imports of refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, perfumes, telephones including mobile phones, washing machines, footwear and tyres.
Importation of vehicles using the concessionary permits issued to entitled State Sector employees will be suspended for six months. No Letters of Credit will be permitted to be opened based on these permits during this period, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Among the other measures are:
Issuing of vehicle permits to members of Parliament will be suspended for one year.
Importation of vehicles for Government ministries, departments, statutory boards and state-owned enterprises will be suspended until further notice.
Loan to Value Ratio (LTV) for hybrid vehicles will be revised from 70:30 to 50:50 basis.
Importers of all vehicles other than buses, lorries and ambulances will have to keep a 200 percent cash margin at the time of opening of the LCs.
The Finance ministry said that though these measures would be effective temporarily the Government would continuously monitor the exchange rate fluctuations and take appropriate action accordingly.