Customs duty on milk powder is reimposed; Special commodity levy on eggs reduced
The Treasury has withdrawn the duty waiver granted for imported milk powder.The decision has been taken with the aim of adjusting to world market prices, a senior official said. Accordingly, the applicable Customs import duty on the importation of powdered milk is 20% or Rs. 225 for a kilogram, whichever is higher, the Treasury states.
Meanwhile, the Treasury has reduced the special commodity levy on imported eggs from Rs. 50 an egg to Rs. 1 to encourage private sector imports. So far only the state sector has been importing eggs from India.Egg prices have been dropping steadily after the removal of price controls and the import of eggs from India.
However, local producers said if the government reduced the taxes imposed on food items used in the poultry industry they could further reduce prices.
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An investigation has been launched following a complaint made by a lawyer that there were worms in a parcel of roti bought from Hotel de Plaza restaurant located at No. 329, Galle Road, Kollupitiya, it was reported to Sri Lanka Mirror.
The Wellawatta Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Office has received the complaint and investigations have been launched accordingly.
When asked about the investigation, the Wellawatta MOH Office said that they will conduct a formal investigation regarding the restaurant and take appropriate action.
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held yesterday (Aug. 23), decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 11.00 per cent and 12.00 per cent, respectively.
The Board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected developments in the domestic as well as the global economy, while noting the significant easing of monetary conditions effected since June 2023.
The Monetary Board took note of the downward adjustment of market interest rates in response to monetary policy easing measures implemented thus far and the need to allow space for further adjustment of market interest rates swiftly.
However, the Board observed that market interest rates of certain lending products remain excessive and are not in line with the current monetary policy stance.
Moreover, the Board anticipates a faster reduction in overall market lending interest rates in line with the recent monetary policy easing measures.
Accordingly, the Board decided to adopt targeted administrative measures to reduce specific lending interest rates that it considered to be excessive and direct the licensed banks to reduce overall rupee lending interest rates by an appropriate margin in the period ahead.
The import tax of Rs. 75 on 1 kg of maize was reduced to Rs. 25 from last night (17).
The aim of this is to reduce the price of animal feed produced using maize, State Minister of Finance – Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says.
