Imports during this period should be based on priority requirements – CSBL governor
Posted on April 9th, 2022

Courtesy Hiru News

Sri Lanka’s central bank doubled its key interest rates on Friday, raising each by an unprecedented 700 basis points to tame inflation that has soared due to crippling shortages of basic goods driven by a devastating economic crisis.

“The rate hike will give a strong signal to investors and markets that we are coming out of this as soon as possible,” governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said at a post-policy decision briefing.

Weerasinghe said that he wanted to run the central bank independently without any external influence and that he had been given the authority to do so by the president and has been asked to expedite measures to get the country out of the current crisis.

“I want to be very clear that my message is not one of blind positivity. Things are challenging and we need to take decisive action. Things will get worse before they get better, but we need to apply the breaks to this vehicle before it crashes,” he added.

The new Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe stated that the release of foreign currency for any import should be considered on a case by case basis as a matter of priority including the imports of vehicles.

He was speaking at a media briefing at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka yesterday (08).

He said that in allocating money for such imports would be after the overall impact on the majority of the population is taken into consideration.

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