Losses due to duty free .

The government had foregone revenue running to the tune of Rs. 14 billion due to the granting of import duty waivers last year, says the Performance Report of the Department of Trade and Tariff.

Of this amount, Rs. 13 billion had been foregone for the imports of items related to the reducing of the cost of living.

Besides, Rs. 4.6 million had been forgone for the items imported by charitable and religious organizations.

Revenue forgone for the importation of duty free vehicles under the Foreign Ministry Circular was Rs. 13.4 million. Also Rs. 521.8 million had been forgone for the importation of duty free vehicles under the Trade, Tariff and Investment Policy Circular during the year.

In addition to this, the country also had to foregone certain amount of revenue due to four bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements despite various benefits derived from them.

In 2009, the country lost Rs. 5341 million by way traffic concessions given to imports under the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Rs. 518 million under the Pakistan- Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Rs. 71.2 under the South Asia Free Trade Area Agreement, and Rs.32 million under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement.

Source : dailymirror.lk