Sri Lanka: Central Bank to impose laws forbidding the possession of foreign currency notes

ANI
21 May 2022, 02:37 GMT+10

Colombo [Sri Lanka], May 20 (ANI/Xinhua): The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Friday declared that Sri Lanka would soon be implementing laws which would ban anyone from possessing foreign currency notes over 10,000 U.S. dollars.

Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said that the law will be implemented to prevent the hoarding of foreign currency and draw them into the banking system. He added that people have been possessing the foreign currency resulting in the deprecation of the Sri Lankan rupee.

Over 35 per cent of the total foreign currency transactions happen outside of the banking sector, stated Weerasinghe. Emphasizing the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka, he further said that the people of the island country are in a dire need of essential imports like gas, fuel, and medicine without having to stand and wait in long queues. For that, Sri Lanka's foreign currency must be kept in the banking system.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts affecting a large number of the citizens resulting in massive protests which culminated in the resignation of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Further, the scarcity of foreign currencies has made it next to impossible to import essential items as well. (ANI/Xinhua)

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