Cabinet Spokesman, Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena said import restrictions that have been imposed will be eased so that US dollars are not drawn abroad on a large scale, at once. The minister made this comment while replying to a question raised by a journalist on how reasonable it is to allow drinking water bottles when granting permission for non-essential imports which are currently restricted.
The Minister further said that the decisions regarding the relaxation of import restrictions imposed will be made based on the guidelines and instructions provided by the expert committee appointed by the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The minister said that he was not aware of whether the importation of quality drinking water bottles has been allowed into the country on behalf of tourists coming to the country, and also mentioned that perhaps it may have been allowed. However, the minister said that the government will take steps to relax import restrictions to encourage activities to increase export market income.
The committee will provide the necessary incentives for a production process that leads to bringing in as many US dollars to Sri Lanka as possible, and the committee will work to ease the restrictions on imported goods including raw materials that directly contribute to it.
Without this, the minister stressed that import restrictions will not be eased in a manner that US dollars are drawn abroad on a large scale at once, and said that he is ready to take decisions in this regard very soon through a scientific method.