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Utility bill grace period for hoteliers 

24 Oct 2021

  • Cabinet to announce decision soon: Prasanna 
The Government finalised its decision to grant a grace period to all Covid-19-impacted hotels and residences registered with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), for electricity and water bill payments The Sunday Morning Business learns. Speaking to us, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga said the decision to grant the grace period was confirmed and will be announced by the Cabinet of Ministers soon. According to ministry sources, the grace period will be for a period of six months. Minister Ranatunga recently said the Government considered granting this concession, as hoteliers were asking for further relief to be provided, since it may take several more months for the collapsed tourism industry to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. A special loan relief package was introduced to provide Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 15,000 to guides and drivers, respectively, who were registered with the SLTDA. According to SLTDA data, it paid 1,968 registered drivers Rs. 29.52 million for this purpose and 2,510 registered tour guides about Rs. 47.9 million. Subsequently, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) extended the debt moratorium by nine months, from 1 October 2021 until 30 June 2022. The initial moratorium was issued by the CBSL in April 2019, after the Easter Sunday attacks. Speaking to us in September, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President Sanath Ukwatte said this short-term measure of extending the debt moratorium was not sufficient for the hotel industry, as it was the worst-hit industry with zero occupancy since the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019. Expressing his views, Ukwatte emphasised that since the debt moratorium led to them paying interest on interest, THASL requested the Government for an interest waiver for all tourism-related debt for a period of three years from April 2019 to April 2022. “The debt moratorium is a temporary solution that is just postponing our troubles. Hence, as an ultimate solution, we have requested the Government to intervene to waive our interest rate for three years and to help the industry to restructure our loan processes,” he said. Referring to the financial crisis faced by the Government, Ukwatte said that the issuing of bonds to local banks – similar to what several other countries have done to protect their industries – would enable the Government to grant an interest waiver. Explaining further, he stated that three million people depend on the hotel industry, and those indirectly employed were impacted more than those directly employed, which is why the interest waiver is extremely essential for the industry to recover within a given period. “The beauty of the hotel industry is that 95% of foreign revenue earned is retained in Sri Lanka, unlike other government institutions that spend more on imports with the income earned. We are hoping that the Government will consider this request during the next budget and help us to restructure the debt,” Ukwatte concluded. According to official data by the SLTDA, Sri Lanka welcomed 13,547 tourists in September 2021, which is an increase from 5,040 in August 2021.


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