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| Sunday, 12 October 2003 |
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Slow phase-out of import surcharge - Central Bank The 20 per cent surcharge on imports will be gradually phased out over a period of several years and will not be 'eliminated' by the year's end as erroneously reported (not in this newspaper) in the media, the Central Bank stated in a news release yesterday. The Bank said that the original media communique issued by the Steering Committee on Macro and Trade Policy Framework had been misinterpreted. The original communique issued by the Macro and Trade Policy Steering Committee also said: "As a first step, the 40 per cent import surcharge imposed in 2001 was reduced to 20 per cent in 2002. This has obvious benefits to consumers by bringing down the cost of imported products. For example, prices of food items such as dried fish, sprats and canned fish fell, as did the prices of bicycles, radios and TVs. It is expected that the surcharge will be phased out gradually. As tariff reforms progress further, consumers will continue to benefit from lower prices for consumer goods imports that will make them more affordable to the general public. "At the same time, investors will benefit from lower imported investment good prices and exporters will benefit from lower prices for their imported inputs, making Sri Lankan exports more competitive in the international market. Sri Lankan manufacturers using imported inputs and producing for the domestic market will also benefit from increased demand for their products as prices decline. This will raise production and create more jobs." |
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