• Finance Ministry reports $ 1.49 b worth of LCs have been issued for imports
• Customs officials expect high volume of vehicle imports to decrease as pent-up demand is fulfilled

Sri Lanka’s banking sector has opened 30,594 Letters of Credit (LCs) by the first week of September to bring over 220,000 vehicles worth $ 1.49 billion, the Finance Ministry said.

Presenting the fiscal performance for the first half of 2025 before the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), the Finance Ministry said the total number of LCs opened by 3 September stood at 30,594 to bring in 220,026 vehicles worth $ 1,491 million.

Details revealed that vehicles cleared by Customs amounted to 154,537 worth $ 911 million, out of which 98,923 are motorcycles and 40,323 are motor cars.

The overall revenue collected by the Customs through excise duties, value-added tax (VAT), and customs duties on motor vehicles during the period was Rs. 429 billion.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Customs revealed that it has collected Rs. 1,546 billion in tax revenue by 9 September, from the annual target of Rs. 2,115 billion.

Customs officials revealed that they expect the motor vehicle import volume to reduce in the coming months as the LCs being opened are reducing, with pent-up demand being fulfilled.

Officials said that the tax collection from motor vehicle imports will decrease in 2026 compared to this year due to reduced demand.

Further, the Finance Ministry revealed that the capital expenditure of the government stood at Rs. 352 billion by the end of August, out of the Rs. 1.35 trillion allocated for the year.

Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP was at 96% at the end of the first half of 2025, with the overall debt stock at Rs. 30,795 billion by June.