The Trade Ministry has decided to venture into import essential food items in a bid to provide stocks at competitive prices to consumers through state outlets.
As the first step, the government has decided to import sugar and dhal stocks from India and Australia respectively.
A cabinet paper submitted by Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena to open Letters of Credit to import sugar from National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and dhal through the JANTEC Group in Australia has been approved.
Minister Gunawardena said the objective was to provide dhal at a price of Rs 175 per kilogram and sugar at Rs 107 per kilogram as the retail prices.
Under the plan, some 2,500 metric tons each of sugar and dhal are to be imported.
Former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, arrested on allegation of corruption by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been remanded until July 1 by the Colombo Magistrate court.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Stabilization and NPP National List MP Harshana Suriyapperuma who is tipped to be named the next Finance Ministry Secretary resigned from Parliament today.
Leave Comments