By Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya has said that India, and Sri Lanka are working to trade in national currencies, a development that comes even as both sides have been focusing on financial connectivity.
He said that it will also be very easy for the Indian tourists to come and they come to Sri Lanka and pay in Indian Rupees”.
The minister was in Delhi for the BIMSTEC grouping’s foreign minister retreat.
Tharaka Balasuriya, State Minister for Foreign Affairs in a media interview with Wion while in India said that the government of Sri Lank is looking forward to connect with India by building a bridge across the Polk Striate “. Sri Lanka at the moment, we have got about 1.1 million tourists this year. And we are looking to get 2.4 million tourists at the end of the year. I think you know if we have a bridge that 2.4 million or 5 million tourists coming from India can take place within months. We’ve been building walls for too long. So we need to build the bridges now”
Commenting on financial connectivity Tharaka Balasuriya said that both countries need to explore new avenues.
“I think, from the Sri Lanka side we become less dollar dependent. If more Indian tourists come to Sri Lanka, you can pay for the Indian goods in Indian rupees, then you only save a lot of money in terms of the commissions and converting all money to dollars and paying your receipts in dollars. So it makes more sense to pay for those goods locally in the local currency. So I think it’s a very good proposal, and it will also be very easy for the Indian tourists to come and they come to Sri Lanka and pay in Indian Rupees”.
He said that a plan to use Indian Rupees within Sri Lanka is in progress
“The work is proceeding well and I think by next year we will have identified a certain number of locations where these machines/ATMs can be used in order to trade.” Said Tharaka Balasuriya.
