President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today announced a series of relief measures to support the public affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The measures are listed below;
- Repayment of personal loans below Rs. 1 m (of private and public sector non-managerial staff ) to banks & financial institutions suspended for 3 months (until 30 May).
- Grace period of 6 months given for lease payment on three-wheelers; period for repayment on Credit Cards (less than Rs. 50,000) extended till 30 April.
- Deadline for payment of VAT, income tax, driving licence renewal, water/electricity bills below Rs. 15,000 extended till 30 April
- A 6 month debt moratorium for tourism sector, apparel sector, small and medium businesses.
- All banking branches will be opened to provide services to the public when curfew is lifted.
- Sri Lanka Sathosa and Co-operatives are exempt from VAT and other taxes.
- The March allowance of Rs. 20,000 for those selected under the Graduates employment scheme deposited to their bank accounts
- The Agrahara insurance benefits for health workers engaged in Corona prevention activities, Police, Civil Security personnel and other government employees to be doubled.
- Samurdhi beneficiaries and Samurdhi card holders to be offered an interest free advance of Rs. 10,000 through all Samurdhi Banks.
- The Bank of Ceylon, People's Bank, National Savings Bank, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, Employees Provident Fund and Employees Trust Fund to jointly invest in Treasury Bonds and Bills, to stabilizing the money market at 7% interest rate.
- Sri Lanka Ports, Customs and other regulatory bodies must continually issue essential food, fertilizer, pharmaceuticals and fuel to the relevant individuals continuously.
- Samurdhi Authority instructed to issue title certificates to Samurdhi and low income families immediately to issuing nutritious food items to low income persons. They should be provided with rice, dhal and salt on a weekly basis with their food cards.