The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake
Chamara Sampath Dasanayake raised the issue of duty-free vehicle permits promised to public officers, noting that many have been waiting five to seven years after permits were issued. He acknowledged concerns raised with the IMF about foreign exchange outflows of about USD 25,000 per vehicle, but said the Finance Ministry had proposed rupee-based alternatives, such as monthly payments over 36 or 60 months. He urged the Government to resolve the uncertainty faced by about 25,000 permit holders.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, every government granted these duty-free permits to public officers every five years. You too received it when in health service. But now, after issuing permits, five to seven years have passed. The previous government discussed with the IMF that sending USD 25,000 abroad per vehicle harms the country; we accept that. Officers in the Finance Ministry prepared projects—to pay in rupees. If a permit is worth Rs. 3.5 million, not to pay all at once—suggestions were to recover Rs. 50,000 per month for 60 months, or Rs. 100,000 per month for 36 months. That was proposed to the IMF. According to your answer, 25,000 permit holders are left hanging. Officers are waiting with permits. We say—
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 25 July 2025 ·No. 1754382585021621 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 25 July 2025. No. 1754382585021621. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/11093