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The Indian Government has reduced tariff barriers on Sri Lankan imports from 50 to 90 percent on products in the residual list. This Indian move announced in its recent Budget proposals will be effective from March 1 and would propel exports of 4561 Sri Lankan products to India. The Indian Government also decided to increase customs duty on teas from 70 percent to 100 percent however the customs duties on Sri Lankan teas will remain at 7.5 percent. "There are 4561 products in this residual list of a total of 5112 which come under the Indo- Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Deputy Director of Commerce M.G. Dharmapriya said. Sri Lankan exports such as porcelain, marble slabs, furniture, copper bars, energy saving bulbs, measuring devices and food items would benefit due to the reduction of tariff. This move will also help to significantly reduce the trade surplus, which is currently in India's favour. In 2001 imports from India stood at Rs. 53.6 billion while exports to that country was Rs. 6.2 billion. Commenting on this far reaching development, the President of the Federation of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka Macky Hashim said that this was a welcome move under the Free Trade Agreement and the direct beneficiaries would be Sri Lanka’s small and medium scale industries. “This was a good opportunity for Sri Lanka to be a manufacturing base for the SAARC region. It is also good for technology transfers,” he said.
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