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Import restrictions and levies: Prices of essentials to rise

21 Jun 2020

By Skandha Gunasekara Import restrictions and high import levies will lead to a rise in a number of essential items including sugar, The Sunday Morning learnt. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce − Import Section Chairman Delano Dias told The Sunday Morning that taxes such as the Special Commodity Levy (SCL) have increased exponentially. “The Government has increased the Special Commodity Levy in an unprecedented manner. Some items such as fat are being taxed as much as Rs. 600 per kilogramme,” he said. He added that this would definitely see an increase in confectionary prices. “Confectionary companies will have a serious problem because we don’t produce all the required ingredients in Sri Lanka. A company like Ceylon Biscuit Ltd. will have an additional cost of Rs. 1 billion a year and they will pass that on to the consumer for sure,” Dias said. In addition, sugar and imported mackerel have also seen the SCL being slapped on. “The SCL on mackerel went from Rs. 50 to Rs. 100,” he said.


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