Sri Lankan minister deplores political border tax policy on cement

Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera, has spoken out against the country's cement prices being higher than more developed markets in south Asia, requesting that the border tax policy needs to be depoliticised to benefit consumers.

"Our export sector has been crippled by para-tariffs caused by businessmen influencing politicians," Mr Samaraweera told the opening of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit.

"This has also led to large increases in prices. For example, last year cement cost more in Sri Lanka than in Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. This affects construction of both factories and houses. As envisioned in the Budget, we need to go back to the simple, non-discretionary three-band tariff structure that we had in the early 1990s by eliminating non-tariff barriers," he added.

"This will de-politicise our border tax policy and bring huge benefits to exporters and consumers."