The Sri Lanka Automobile Association in Japan (SLAAJ) has urged the Government to permit the importation of vehicles that were purchased to fulfill orders before March 20.
According to the Daily Mirror, President of the Association S. A. Nishantha Meegalla said the Embassy of Japan has been provided with details of the purchased vehicles.
Stating that it is facing severe losses due to the payment of demurrages for the parking arrears of nearly 1,364 vehicles, the Association said it is becoming difficult to maintain the services.
Meegalla said permission is being sought to import these vehicles to cover up the losses as all the vehicles which were purchased and manufactured according to the local customer requirements cannot be sold to other countries.
He further explained that if the vehicles are sold to other countries they will have to be sold at half the price of the cost, despite the manufacturing cost.
In March, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had directed all banks to suspend facilitating the importation of all types of motor vehicles for three months.
According to the CBSL, the decision was taken to ensure adequate liquidity in the market to facilitate smooth operations and sustain market confidence amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. (NewsWire)
