•  Directs Trade and Investment Policy Dept. to submit report on sugar price hike
•  Says increase in tax does not affect wheat flour prices
•  Confirms over 45 m eggs imported since February

State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya claimed the price hike in essential food items was unreasonable amidst rupee appreciation against the dollar in recent weeks.

He also directed the Department of Trade and Investment Policy to submit a report on the recent sugar price hike, noting that there is no possibility of the price being raised where the rupee has appreciated substantially.   

“The value of the dollar has decreased by about 13% compared to the rupee and the prices of wheat flour in the world market have also decreased by about 15%,” he added.

Against this backdrop, Siyambalapitiya said the price of wheat flour will not increase due to the tax imposed by the Government. 

He made these remarks whilst presenting the terms and regulations under the Special Merchandise Tax Act for parliamentary approval yesterday.

The Minister also said 277,360 kg of eggs or 4.5 million eggs were imported since 13 February.

Noting that the Government levies taxes on imports to protect the local farmer and businessmen, Siyambalapitiya said that it is also trying to give incentives to the consumers.

“In the year 2022, Sri Lanka has imported over 35.5 million kilos of canned fish at Rs. 2,768 million,” he said. 

He also said that the tax levied on one kilogram of canned fish has been increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200. 

The State Minister believes that the country will receive tax income and also generate interest in the people to buy the local fish harvest.

Company related to brown sugar incident pays Rs. 160 m  penalty to Treasury