The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe stated that there is no need to restrict vehicle imports at this juncture as the country’s gross official foreign exchange reserves has increased to US$ 7.3 billion by end last month.
He made these remarks in response to a question raised by the media, whether Sri Lanka would take steps to restrict vehicle imports as the war situation in the Middle East could escalate into a global economic crisis.
The CBSL Governor also stated that since Sri Lanka has sufficient official reserves, the shock to the country due to the war situation in the Middle East could be absorbed.
According to the Central Bank data, Sri Lanka had official reserves of US$ 6.8 billion by the end of last year. The CBSL revealed, the country’s gross official reserves, which had fallen to US$ 1.9 billion in 2022 due to the economic crisis, have now increased to US$ 7.3 billion due to continuous dollar purchases.
The CBSL Governor added that, although it is impossible to predict how long the war situation in the Middle East will continue, since foreign reserves are currently at a high level, there is a possibility of managing the shock to the economy.
Dr. Weerasinghe further stated that the Sri Lankan people have shown some ability to cope with past shocks such as the COVID pandemic, Cyclone Ditwah and the economic crisis accordingly, he added that he sees the potential to make some adjustments and move forward in this situation as well.
Source : Daily News
