Food import curbs bring out ‘successful results’ in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has had had ‘successful results’ from controlling imports of 16 types of foods, and similar efforts are being made in the pharmaceuticals sector to ‘save foreign exchange’ Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had said.

“Just as by trusting the local farmer domestic production was increased, the same will be done in the pharmaceuticals and other sectors,” Minister Rajapaksa was quoted as saying in a statement.

“Under the Saubagya Dekma policy framework of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, an economy based on domestic production is being made and one key step of controlling the import of 16 items has had successful results.”

Sri Lanka has banned the import of several items including turmeric and green gram, raising prices to unusual levels and promoting smuggling.

Minister Rajapaksa was speaking while inspecting the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation where two new chemicals were produced.

Tramadol, a painkiller and Levothyroxine had been released to the market.

Sri Lanka imported 9.8 million tramadol capsules a year and 98 million tablets of levothyroxine.

By import substitution, Sri Lanka could save 88 million rupees a year or about half a million US dollars a year.

Sri Lanka now makes 20 percent of the pharmaceutical requirements of the country, and the government wanted to raise it to 50 percent, the statement said.