COLOMBO– The government will not roll back import restrictions imposed on foodstuff, but will continue to encourage local production, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced during a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on the Cost of Living on Monday (Aug 31).
A statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat said the president had acknowledged the prices of several consumer goods, including turmeric, had risen “due to decisions taken to uplift the local agricultural industry and the farming community”, but had pointed out that if turmeric and other commodities were imported to control or bring prices down, the desired objective will never be achieved.
It quoted the president as saying that even though public faced difficulties for a short period of time, measures taken to strengthen the rural economy and uplift the farming community cannot be reversed, indicating that the closed economy strategy imposed during the beginning of the novel coronavirus outbreak will continue.
The statement said meeting had recognized that prices of several essential items had risen for the urban middle class, but the president had said, “In order to earn a stable and strong income for the rural farmers who make up about 40% of the population, we need to develop confidence that they would get a high price for their products and assure a stable market for them.”
The president had noted that without taking such measures the rural communities cannot be encouraged to engage themselves in the agricultural sector.
He had also said that in order to control the foreign exchange parity rates and to get rid of high debt burden on farmers, imports should be restricted, pointing out that countries such as India and the United States have also imposed import restrictions in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The president had highlighted the need for proper procedures to address the issues faced by the middle class in the suburbs due to inflation, noting that continuing with the steps taken by the government during the COVID-19 lockdown to deliver farm produce directly to the consumers at a subsidized rate would remove the middlemen and protect both the farmer and the consumer.
“Promoting the economic condition of the people in remote areas and reducing the cost of living burden of the people in the suburbs should be addressed simultaneously” President Rajapaksa had said. In this context the use of government institutions such as Sathosa, Co-operatives, Govijana Seva Centres and the Security Forces had been discussed as well as the need to revamp the island-wide network of Economic Centres and implementation of a proper system to purchase farmer’s produce.
The statement said the president had instructed officials to update him once a week on the market status.
–ENCL/economynext.com