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Sri Lanka asks for cuts in Indonesian import tariff

The Sri Lankan government has called on Indonesia to cut import tariffs on wheat flour, days after Colombo was warned by the IMF for imposing its own import tariffs.

Commerce minister Rishad Bathiudeen had been quoted by Lanka Business Online, as saying to Indonesian vice minister for trade, Bayu Krisnamurthy,

"We request Indonesia to reconsider this decision, since Sri Lanka's wheat flour industry, which is located in the eastern province of the country, made a significant contribution to the economic welfare of the people in that region, who were also affected by the war".

Sri Lanka is currently the second biggest exporter of wheat flour to Indonesia.

Earlier this week, Sri Lanka faced criticism from the International Monetary Fund for imposing its own tariffs on imports, who warned it was “against the direction of trade liberalisation and competitiveness”.

Sri Lanka also has its own tariffs on wheat, which has caused the price of bread to increase significantly over the last few years.

See our earlier post: Further increases in price of bakery product (19 April 2013)

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