By Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange crisis is biting into vehicle maintenance with a shortage of spare parts. The Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA), representing vehicle agents (franchise holders) said that as opening letters of credit to import spare parts is becoming difficult vehicles are being moved out of the road and the spare part business is crumbling and the garage workers will soon be out of work.
Ceylon Motor Traders Association points out that it will not be possible to achieve the ambitious targets set for the tourist industry without proper vehicle maintenance. Currently, food and medicine receive high priority when releasing foreign exchange while vehicle spare part import is down on the list.
Currently, an import ban of two years has been imposed for new cars and used vehicles have skyrocketed and will be difficult for these used vehicles to be on the road without a steady supply of spare parts.
