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Migrant workers may lose facility to import electric vehicles
View(s):The scrapping of the system allowing Sri Lankan migrant workers to import electric vehicles on concessionary terms has been recommended by the Treasury to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Finance Minister. The move follows an analysis of the scheme, which has been effective for more than a year. It was aimed at encouraging migrant workers to remit more foreign exchange to the country through official and legal channels.
A senior official said the Treasury had found that the remittances gained through the scheme were not adequate, and the taxes imposed on the imports were also not sufficient. Thus, the scheme was not financially viable.
Accordingly, the Treasury was recommending that no further extensions be given to the scheme, he said.
The Treasury also pointed to the International Monetary Fund requirement that, if vehicle imports were permitted, no particular group should benefit and equal treatment should be afforded to all sectors.
The official said the Treasury had also received requests, including a proposal that all parliamentarians should be allowed to import electric vehicles on concessionary terms.
“There is a strong possibility that the scheme will be misused, and therefore we would be recommending that the scheme be scrapped without further extensions,” the official said.
The facility for migrant workers to import electrical vehicles was granted following a request from the Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry as part of several measures introduced by the ministry for the benefit of migrant workers in a bid to encourage them to send money back to the country through legal methods.
More than 100 permits had been issued to import electrical vehicles by March this year.
Sri Lanka has suspended the import of vehicles due to the financial crisis and is unlikely to lift the suspension next year.
A senior Treasury official said that around US$2 billion a year would need to be spent if approval was granted to import vehicles.
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