Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that if the GSP + concession are lost, the rupee will depreciate and we will have to pay Rs. 300 for a US dollar and thousands of people could be lost their jobs.
He recalled that the Yahapalana government had taken steps to boost the Sri Lankan economy by obtaining GSP + tax concessions from the European Union in 2017, where the garment and fisheries industries had made great strides due to the permission granted to export goods to Europe without levying taxes.
Ranil Wickremasinghe has said that a problem has arisen in the European Parliament today regarding the GSP + tax concession given to Sri Lanka and warned us that this concession will be lost. Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is at risk due to the Covid pandemic. And also fishery industry facing a trouble situation due to burnt ship and moreover, foreign exchange has fallen down due to the declining number of people going for foreign employment he said.
He said that Sri Lanka had taken a loan of US $ 200 million from Bangladesh due to the economic crisis and only the tea industry and the garment industry were remain to earn foreign exchange to the Sri Lankan economy.
He further urged the government to take immediate action to protect the GSP + concession without further politicizing the situation and not to destroy the country by adding heavy economic burden to the people.