The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I present the Report of the Committee on Public Finance on the Regulations made under Section 20 read with Sections 4(1) and 14 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, No. 1 of 1969 as amended by Acts No. 48 of 1985 and No. 28 of 1987.

¶ 02 Ordered to lie upon the Table.

¶ 03 Hon. Speaker, allow me a minute to make the preliminary statement. During the 2019-2022 crisis, vehicle imports were suspended. A limited window was later opened for vehicles needed by the tourism sector under a certain tax structure. That concession has now been withdrawn as imports have generally reopened, but permission has been granted under these Regulations for a small number across 13 vehicle categories.

¶ 04 I also note: Officials of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority appeared before our Committee and we were satisfied with their processes. While many in the sector have requested vehicles for logistics, under the IMF programme we cannot grant individual tax breaks. However, the SLTDA levies a 1% Tourism Development Levy (TDL). As we learned, many do not pay the TDL. If properly collected, those funds through SLTDA could provide some targeted relief to the sector within the IMF framework. We place this observation before the relevant Ministers.

¶ 05 Thank you.