FM: Govt. mulling over allowing use of INR in local transactions

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, on Saturday, said that the government was exploring the possibility of allowing the use of the Indian rupee for local transactions.

Minister Sabry told the media that the move to allow the use of the Indian currency for local transactions would enable “tourists and other people from India to use Indian rupees here” without going through the hassle of multiple currency conversions.

Minister Sabry said that accepting the Indian rupee would be advantageous to Sri Lanka as the trade imbalance between the two countries was currently in favour of India.

“We need more Indian currency, so more Indian people coming here and spending Indian currency is good for us,” Sabry said.