With the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) recently imposing a strict condition on the importation of 623 non-essential items including mobile phones, there has been a lot of talk in the society that there will be a sharp increase in the prices of mobile phones and related items in the country.
The reason for this increase in prices is that there is a possibility of a shortage of these goods in the country due to restrictions on imports due to conditions such as depositing 100% of the goods’ value and not providing loans to buy these goods.
The government had pointed out that the move was aimed at controlling the outflow of dollars due to the foreign exchange crisis.
However, considering the reasons for this move, last year alone, US $ 407.58 million flowed out of the country to import mobile phones, wireless communication equipment, etc. to Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, 1490 tons of mobile phones, tabs, smart watches and related communication equipment and parts were imported to the country last year.
Sri Lanka is mainly importing these mobile phones from China, Vietnam, India, Singapore and the United States.