Yesterday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe hinted that he believes that the import of private vehicles will be able to be resumed gradually from next year. President Wickremesinghe said while addressing a gathering organized at Thaprobane Entertainment recently.
While the easing could breathe new life into the stagnant automobile sector, importers have expressed concern that tariffs on imported vehicles could rise significantly.
In January, the government revised the tariff structure, resulting in a significant increase in vehicle import costs. Importers warn that it is still too early to celebrate the President’s announcement and that significant restrictions may be imposed on allowing vehicle imports.
The President also said that due to the economic crisis, the government imposed import restrictions and now the restrictions have been relaxed and the government has allowed the import of all things except vehicles.
Due to the increase in carbon emissions from petrol vehicles and air pollution in urban areas, the government had initially decided to give priority to the promotion of electric vehicles in future vehicle imports.
Accordingly, with the aim of encouraging expatriate workers to remit their earnings through legal means, a scheme for issuing licenses for the import of fully electric vehicles has now been introduced. This program has been introduced at the request of the Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment , Manusha Nanayakkara.