Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe - Deputy Minister of Labour

Mr. Deputy Speaker, we are discussing the Regulation under the Foreign Exchange Act, No. 12 of 2017, framed to promote and regulate foreign exchange, and to entrust the Central Bank—as the Government’s agent—with responsibility for that function. Since 2020, this Regulation has been extended by Gazette roughly every six months. Today, we again extend it by six months. It raises the cap on outward payments through foreign currency accounts by resident business entities from USD 200,000 to USD 500,000, and increases the personal FCA limit for permissible capital transactions from USD 20,000 to USD 25,000. Through this we are signalling—to the world, to our people, and to our forex earners—that we are steadily broadening the economy and opening opportunities as we take the country forward.