The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that Sri Lankan authorities have formulated an initial roadmap to ease restrictions on motor vehicle imports by 2025.
The plan will begin with public passenger and special purpose vehicles in the third quarter of 2024, followed by goods transport vehicles in the fourth quarter, with the remaining vehicles to follow in 2025.
A comprehensive plan detailing the tax implications and effects on reserve accumulations is expected to be completed by June 15, 2024. Sri Lanka anticipates generating approximately 0.8 percent of GDP from the relaxation of these import restrictions.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka has committed to devising a plan to eliminate remaining administrative Balance of Payments (BoP) measures, including exchange restrictions, Multiple Currency Practices (MCP), and capital flow measures (CFMs), by the end of May 2024.
The IMF completed the second review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, allowing Sri Lanka to draw SDR 254 million (about USD 336 million). This brings the total IMF financial support disbursed so far to SDR 762 million (about USD 1 billion).
