ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has determined to streamline and systematically monitor imports, Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando mentioned, after investigations into some rip-off confirmed some importers have despatched U.S. {dollars} within the guise of importing from overseas international locations.
Fernando in a press release said that the target of the brand new Gazette notification issued by the Division of Import and Export Management is to forestall the pointless outflow of overseas alternate from the nation by systematically learning import funds, fairly than limiting import and export actions
“He identified that it was lately disclosed in Parliament how sure events had actively funneled overseas alternate in a foreign country beneath the guise of import-export processes through the use of faux firm registrations,” the Finance Ministry mentioned within the assertion.
“The Minister additional famous that beneath the brand new Gazette notification, all data, together with the importer’s tackle, account quantity, imported items, and the forex used for fee, will likely be systematically obtained, and each financial institution should preserve a separate identification quantity for every particular person transaction.”
He additionally mentioned tax identification variety of importer can also be required for the monitoring course of,
Within the current previous, Sri Lanka has confronted extreme macroeconomic vulnerabilities pushed by persistent balance-of-payments crises, depletion of overseas alternate reserves, and forex depreciation.
Traditionally, the nation’s reliance on exterior financing and weak home financial savings has uncovered it to extreme financial instability.
Whereas the federal government has beforehand relied closely on interest-rate changes to curb demand, these measures alone have failed to deal with supply-side and imported sources of inflation.
This consists of meals provide disruptions, world commodity value actions, and rising gas and vitality prices amid the Central Financial institution’s makes an attempt to manage each alternate charges and rates of interest concurrently.
To stabilize the financial system and tackle these structural points, the federal government can implement complete coverage evaluations to strengthen its monetary inventory and productive capability, analysts and economists have mentioned.
They are saying the state can introduce focused regulatory frameworks, akin to new Gazette notifications, to systematically monitor import funds, observe importer data, and make the most of individualized financial institution transaction numbering.
This method goals to forestall the illicit outflow of overseas alternate by means of faux firm registrations with out fully strangling crucial commerce.
Finally, shifting in the direction of a broader financial technique that targets decrease, predictable inflation alongside aggressive overseas alternate reserve accumulation, home financial savings mobilization, and enhanced export competitiveness will present a extra sturdy basis for long-term financial stability. (Colombo/June 19/2026)
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