Exporters say that the request made by the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to convert the dollar income received for the goods exported from the country into rupees is baseless and impractical.
They point out that if all the dollar income received for the goods exported from the country is converted into rupees, they will not be able to buy the necessary raw materials.
The exporters also say that the proposal to convert 100% of dollar income to rupees is similar to killing a hen that lays golden eggs, as it is necessary to keep a certain amount of dollars in foreign banks and buy raw materials from them, as dollars cannot be obtained from the country’s banking system.
They also state that such a move would completely collapse the export industry as the banking system does not issue letters of credit and there is a shortage of dollars.
