News
‘Frauds, irregularities have cost Customs more than Rs 58 bn in revenue’
The Customs Department has lost revenue amounting to more than Rs. 58 billion due to various frauds and irregularities, and Chairman of the Committee of the Ways and Means, MP Patali Champika Ranawaka has instructed the officials of Ministry of Finance and other institutions to take immediate steps to recover the losses.
It has been revealed that arecanut is imported from Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar for USD 750-900 per tonne, and big profits are made by re-exporting those consigenments as Sri Lankan arecanut to Pakistan and India. The re-exporters make use of concessions given to Sri Lankan exporters under free trade agreements. The fraudulent re-exporting causes a loss to local exporters. As such, around 100 such containers containing 1,493 tonnes of arecanut were detained by the Customs, the officials told the committee, sources said..
The Director General of Customs has informed the committee that an order was given to collect 100 percent fines for valuable goods such as gold brought into the country illegally. Already more than Rs. 290 million had been collected as fines from ten such people, parliament sources said.
Following the conclusion of bilateral discussions between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, official-level talks between the delegations of Sri Lanka and India commenced this morning (05) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
Representing the Government of Sri Lanka were Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath; Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Anil Jayantha; Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake; Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, along with other senior officials.
The Indian delegation included Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and His Excellency Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, along with several other senior officials of the Government of India.
Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sri Lanka on the invitation of President Anura Kumara Disanayake on Friday [04] night, visited the Presidential Secretariat this morning (05).
The Indian Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by President Anura Kumara Disanayake upon his arrival at the Presidential Secretariat.
Prime Minister Modi is currently on a state visit to Sri Lanka, reaffirming the theme “Friendship of Centuries — Commitment to a Prosperous Future” which symbolises the longstanding ties between Sri Lanka and India. The Indian Premier is scheduled to remain in the country until tomorrow (06).
[PMD]
The official welcoming ceremony for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was held this morning (05) at the Independence Square in Colombo.
On arrival at the Independence Square the Indian Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by President Anura Kumara Disanayake.
Discussions between Sri Lankan and Indian delegations at the presidential secretariat
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Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi arrives at the presidential secretariat
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