News
Surcharge on vehicle imports irks SJB, pleases ex-Finance Minister
Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa has launched a scathing attack on the government for the 50% Customs duty surcharge on vehicle imports, accusing the latter of burdening the public with additional costs, despite its earlier promises to make vehicles more affordable.
Addressing the media in Tissamaharama, on Saturday, Premadasa said those who had once pledged to make a Vitz car available for Rs. 1.2 million had now moved in the opposite direction by increasing duties on vehicles.
Premadasa questioned assurances given by Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando that vehicle prices would not significantly increase due to the surcharge, asserting that the President, the government and its 159 Members of Parliament must take responsibility for the consequences of the decision.
The Opposition Leader also voiced concern over the depreciation of the rupee, warning that the local currency was weakening rapidly against the US dollar and that continued depreciation would lead to higher inflation, rising commodity prices and further increases in the cost of living.
He said economic stabilisation could only be achieved through stronger export earnings, growth in the tourism sector, higher foreign remittances and increased Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
Premadasa further accused the President, the Finance Minister and the Government of lacking a basic understanding of economics, claiming that repeated policy mistakes had adversely affected the economy and the public.
He called for an increase in subsidies, arguing that rising living costs were placing families under severe financial strain and affecting their ability to look after their families.
Premadasa added that shoring up foreign reserves and arresting the depreciation of the rupee would be critical in meeting debt obligations and safeguarding public welfare.
Meanwhile, the Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL) warned that the Customs duty surcharge would lead to steep increases in vehicle prices, further reducing affordability for consumers.
VIASL spokesperson Arosha Rodrigo told the media that the surcharge, introduced through a gazette notification, had come on top of existing customs duties and the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.
“Vehicle prices are rising at a rate that no one can afford. The new surcharge on top of this is unbearable for vehicle importers. Many vehicles will increase by Rs. 1.5 million to Rs. 2.5 million,” Rodrigo said.
He explained that customs duties on all vehicles, whether imported privately or through dealerships, would rise due to the duty surcharge.
Responding to mounting criticism, Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha urged the public not to be misled by what he described as false claims that vehicle prices would rise by 150% due to the surcharge.
Dr. Jayantha said misinformation was being circulated regarding the surcharge and insisted that claims of a 150% increase in taxes or vehicle prices were “completely false.”
He explained that the temporary three-month surcharge was intended to delay non-essential private vehicle imports and reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves during a period of economic uncertainty.
“The message we are giving is simple: if you can postpone importing a vehicle for personal use, please do so. This is not a move intended to increase vehicle prices,” he said.
According to the Deputy Minister, existing taxes on vehicle imports were already at approximately 130%, and the newly announced surcharge mechanism had been widely misunderstood in public discourse.
He further clarified that vehicles imported under Letters of Credit opened on or before May 15, 2026, would not be affected by the revised tax structure.
“Even if those vehicles arrive months later, they will continue to be taxed under the previous rates. The new tax structure only applies to LCs opened after May 15,” Dr. Jayantha said.
He also stressed that there was no reason for consumers to rush to purchase vehicles, fearing price increases.
Dr. Jayantha noted that motorcycles, three-wheelers and vehicles imported for commercial purposes had been excluded from the temporary measure.
He maintained that the policy was aimed at managing pressure on foreign exchange reserves, maintaining economic stability and curbing unnecessary import demand during the three-month period.
Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Ali Sabry, in a social media post, has endorsed the government’s decision to impose a 50% Customs duty surcharge on vehicle imports, calling a timely intervention to protect the country’s foreign currency reserves. He has said it is a necessary safeguard.
“The Government’s decision to impose a 50% surcharge on the import of vehicles, in the midst of escalating global uncertainty and external pressures, is a prudent and timely measure aimed at protecting Sri Lanka’s fragile external sector and preserving scarce foreign exchange reserves,” Sabry said in a statement on social media.
He has also praised the government’s decision to exempt the Letters of Credit opened on or before May 15, 2026, from the surcharge. “It avoids unnecessary uncertainty, prevents retrospective complications, and protects already embattled importers from further hardship and arbitrary administrative difficulties. In times of crisis, clarity, consistency, and fairness in implementation are just as important as the policy itself,” the former Minister has said, warning that Sri Lanka’s recovery remains vulnerable to global conflicts that disrupt energy markets, trade routes, supply chains, investor confidence, tourism, and financing conditions.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
… warn of dire consequences
A group of trade unions and civil society groups has requested President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to abandon his government’s controversial plan for the proposed tripartite management of the EPF.
The group has told the President: “We strongly object to the government’s plan to transfer the EPF to a tripartite board—jointly promoted by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO)—and to increase the investments of those funds within private equity and debt markets.
“While the EFC and the government jointly project this plan as a ‘modern governance framework’, it poses a serious threat to the EPF’s financial stability, fiduciary conduct, and returns to workers’ life savings, with severe consequences for broader macroeconomic stability. Rather than replacing the corruption existing in the public sector, this tripartite framework paves the way for a corporate takeover of the EPF. Through this, the fund is exposed to unlawful business practices such as insider trading using internal information of EPF investments, conflicts of interest and corporate bailouts of unstable private companies.
“Sri Lanka’s corporate sector has a tremendously negative track record, which you alluded to during your victorious election campaign in 2024. This was recently unravelled by the multi-billion-dollar illicit capital flight through trade misinvoicing, which your administration is now actively working to curb in the imports sector.
“The recent banking sector fraud exceeds Rs. 13 billion; widespread corporate tax evasion destabilised the fiscal position (Sri Lanka Auditor General’s Department Annual Reports) and consequently inflated the tax burden on the general public. The EFC has found it convenient to remain silent about these crimes, possibly assuming that their silence would preserve their social standing. Considering this inherent corruption within Sri Lanka’s corporate sector and its disregard to the living standards of the general public, there is no realistic basis to integrate corporate interests to actively manage the EPF. The corporate sector of Sri Lanka has not developed sufficiently on technical and ethical grounds to safely entrust the largest retirement savings pool in the country. The EPF is a captive fund that has no mechanism for the owners to divest if the management is corrupt. This further increases the possibility of corporate fraud when the management of the fund is jointly held with the corporate sector.
“Furthermore, during the recent public discussion with trade unions, Deputy Minister of Finance Dr. Anila Jayantha pointed out that the domestic debt restructuring (DDR) would inflict a loss of Rs. 600 billion to the EPF. Our independent calculations—formally submitted as an affidavit to the Supreme Court approved by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations in 2024—reveal that nominal loss alone is Rs. 634.4 billion. When factoring in foreclosed reinvestment returns, the true loss skyrockets to Rs. 1,711 billion, wiping out 48% of the fund’s projected gross income for the 2023 – 2028 period. Under the pretext of safeguarding the banking system, this colossal robbery preserved high yields on government bonds held by commercial banks and high-net-worth individuals, subsequently reaping them astronomical profits. Now, the exact same plunder is rearing its head again disguised as a tripartite committee.”
“The main arguments supporting our resistance and viable alternatives for optimising EPF management directly under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), are outlined below.
“Objections to the government’s tripartite proposal:
1. The “International best practice and conflict of interest fallacies”
The government holds that tripartite management of pension funds is the “international best practice” and that there is a “conflict of interest” in CBSL managing the EPF. They are key pillars justifying government’s tripartite proposal.
These two positions are shockingly misleading given that four of the five largest pension funds in the world, in Norway, Japan, the U.S., and Singapore, are managed directly by state bodies or central banks. Therefore, ‘international best practice’ in pension fund management is the exact opposite of what the government and the IMF are proposing. We hence reject these baseless positions.
2. Corporate captivity and bailouts
It is clear that the EFC is desperately pushing for this proposal at a time of global uncertainty, to cushion the effects of the crisis and maximise gains. Under corporate influence within the proposed tripartite board, the private conglomerates can use the multi-trillion-rupee EPF to continue their unstable commercial operations without having to risk their own capital or savings to do so. This will severely erode the financial stability of the EPF and its returns.
3. Risk of front running
“Because the EPF is a colossal fund, its investment decisions can alter asset prices. This creates immense monetary value for the information generated by its investment decisions. Corporate representatives on the proposed tripartite board will be perfectly positioned to use this information to trade ahead of the EPF (front-running), buying assets cheaply and dumping them onto the EPF at inflated prices for guaranteed corporate gain, resulting in a reduction of returns to the EPF.
4. Unavoidable loopholes
“Presence of a separate group of investment analysts, trade union representatives and government officials within the proposed tripartite structure cannot prevent pre-market corporate access to EPF’s investment decisions. Investment proposals made by the analysts has to be first approved by the proposed tripartite committee, making it impossible to prevent corporate access to insider information on EPF investments.”
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