Govt. suspends motor vehicles imports for 1 year, says enough in market

• Cabinet Spokesman says move aimed at curbing cash outflows
• Says assessments of local vehicle market shows enough stocks to last a year
• Over 4,000 unutilised vehicles in State institutions will be repaired and given for use
• Another 5,000 to be discarded according to formal methodology

The Government has decided to suspend vehicle Imports for a year in a bid to stop cash outflow, Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. He told reporters at the weekly Cabinet press briefing that an assessment of the vehicle market has shown that there are enough vehicles imported into the country to last a year.

He said that due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the country is facing a serious foreign currency crisis and hence certain curbs are needed to stop cash outflows. Meanwhile Cabinet this week approved a proposal submitted by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister of Finance, for allocation of provisions from the Department of National Budget to State institutions who lack allocations to repair the vehicles that can be used after undergoing an overhaul. Rambukwella said that it has been observed that a considerable number of vehicles in Government institutions lie unutilised at present due to lack of proper maintenance whereas the number of vehicles that can be used after renovation has been calculated at 4,116, while the number of vehicles that can be discarded amounts to 5,588.

While the vehicles that can be repaired will be transferred through the Comptroller General’s Office under the Ministry of Finance to the State institutions that lack enough vehicles, a formal methodology will be worked out for discarding irreparable vehicles, he said.

Last week the Finance Ministry announced a facility for public officials to purchase motor vehicles in the domestic market using the concessionary motor vehicle permits.