Since the country’s roads cannot stand the amount of vehicles imported, the government will restrict the vehicle importations in consultation with relevant sectors, he says.

Sri Lanka presently has 6.9 million privately owned vehicles and 68,000 vehicles owned by the state, says Karunanayake.

The government intends restricting vehicle importations until the country’s road network is strengthened, he says.

The budget has been prepared with the intention of saving people from poverty and creating a developed country for all its people, says the minister.

Meanwhile, the vehicle importers association says the prices of all vehicles, excepting motorcycles, will go up by between Rs. 200,000 and Rs. 03 million.

President of the association Indika Sampath Merinchage says this is due to the increase in unit tax, shipping fees, smoke emission tests, registration fees and other charges related to vehicle importation.

Related articles:

Issue over electric car importation