Import controls temporary, says Finance Minister

Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera has dispelled fears and assured that Sri Lanka would never go back to ‘closed economy’ of the1970s in the light of present import restrictions, etc seen as likely to go back to that era.
He was speaking at the ‘Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2018 held on Thursday at the Cinnamon Grant Hotel, Colombo and in no uncertain terms, assured: “The Government remains committed to rapid liberalization of the Sri Lankan economy”, implying that Sri Lanka is committed to an open economy. 
He said that the import restrictions, etc are merely temporary measures and would never become permanent, and these restrictions would be regularly reviewed.  The external sector has begun to stabilize in response to the measures that were taken as the government will remain to fall in line with the global development.  This country holds tremendous potential as it is now in the heart of the fastest growing country in the South East Asian region, Mr. Samaraweera commented.
He said that the results are already showing as the government is putting in place policies to liberate better external orientation as results are already showing in exports and FDIs as these sectors are expanding to generate employment and income in the hands of the people driving consumption in a sustainable manner and for the long term benefit to the retail industry.
The government will continue to support the retail sector, he said and indicated that they work with all stakeholders to make the retail sector in Sri Lanka a major destination in the Indian Ocean saying that he would consider some of the proposals the Retailers Association has already made to them to be included in the budget which he would be presenting in two weeks’ time.   
He said that at the end of last year the government achieved a primary surplus, the first time after 1950s in the first half of 2018 and wished to increase this surplus at the end of this year.  He indicated that the monetary sector has been stabilized with credit growth brought within target range and improved significantly by the debt repayments this year. 
Sri Lanka made the largest ever debt repayment with Rs. 1.9 trillion this year and the next two years also they are going to see some significant repayments in 2019 and 2020 bunching up to Rs. 4 trillion. 
The stability is seen as inflation is dropping and the government’s economic policy has been to re-orient Sri Lanka towards the greater external forces taking over international competitions to drive competitiveness in the economy, he asserted.  
The results are materializing, he said and indicated that in 2017 Sri Lanka has achieved a record US$1.9 billion in FDIs.  In the first seven months of this year FDIs reached $1.25 billion a 138 per cent increase, year on year. This is positive outlook for exports in the economy where there are several new projects in the pipe line to the tune of millions of dollars.  (Quintus)