President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has announced that the government has decided to allow the import of vehicles for personal use, with effect from February 01, 2025.He revealed this while delivering a special statement during the parliamentary session today (18).He stated that the import restrictions on personal-use vehicles are proposed to be lifted starting February 01, 2025, while the import restrictions on passenger buses and special-purpose vehicles has already been lifted as of December 14, 2024.The then government of Sri Lanka had decided to suspend vehicle imports in 2021 due to the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.As the severe economic crisis continued to persist, authorities decided to further continue with the restrictions on vehicle imports.
Meanwhile, in June 2024, the Ministry of Finance had announced a plan to gradually lift the restrictions by 2025.