Sri Lanka is currently in a severe economic crisis. It is not possible to repay the loan taken from abroad. This is because the expenditure balance is higher than the balance sheet of the people in this country.
Imports are higher than exports. Due to this the present government has restricted the import of many goods into the country. Accordingly, steps have been taken to ban the importation of vehicles, pepper, arecanuts, siyambala, cinnamon, nutmeg, wasavasi, cardamom, ginger and cloves, Vesak lanterns, kites and incense sticks. Among them were tiles and saris.
The ban on the import of many other items, including ceramics, to protect foreign exchange has hit the tile industry hard in the local market. There was a shortage of tiles in the existing market. The prices of ceramics and bathroom sets went up abnormally.
Although import restrictions have now been lifted, consumers have been forced to wait until about three months to purchase ceramics. Although the removal of import restrictions should make it easier for consumers to buy ceramics, the prevailing situation in the country is that they have to spend two or three times more than they did before building a bathroom.
This was brought to the notice of the Committee on Public Finance on the 23rd of this month. Due to the statement made by the Chairman of the House, MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.
It was revealed that a gazette notification has been issued regarding the import ban on these tiles taking into consideration the import data analysis and the analytical report and recommendations of the Ministry of Industry.
Although these import restrictions had to be imposed at a time when our country was facing an extraordinary crisis in the face of the Kovid 19 crisis, in the face of the free market economic system, officials should have pointed out to the government that the local industry, which currently accounts for 30% of Sri Lanka’s tile consumption, should be developed gradually and imports gradually reduced. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Member of Parliament pointed this out.
Minister of State Susil Premajayantha emphasized that at present the local manufacturer seems to be raising prices to the extent that the ceramic importer sets the price in the local market and to balance this there should be not only the import-export restrictions but also the annual demand and supply equality.
The Commissioner General of Imports and Exports also revealed that a meeting between tile manufacturers and tile importers will be held soon at the Presidential Secretariat to resolve these issues.
Meanwhile, during the Cabinet decision announcement meeting yesterday (24) it was revealed that the ban imposed on the import of ceramic products including tiles will be relaxed. Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella had stated that the government would allow the importation of certain quantities of ceramic products and several other items to prevent the construction industry from collapsing by issuing letters of credit limited to 180 days.