Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2021-04-05

Further extension of the validity period granted to open 'Special Deposit Accounts' under the Foreign Exchange Act No.12 of 2017

- Relevant regulations have been issued under the Foreign Exchange Act No.12 of 2017, making provisions to open Special Deposit Accounts to be effective from April, 2020 with a view to encouraging the foreign exchange inflows into the country. Moreover, Cabinet approval has been granted to pay an additional interest with a view to further retaining the available deposits of the said accounts. Accordingly, as at March, 2021, total deposits in the said accounts amounted to US$ 360.3 million. Since the validity period granted for opening the said Special Deposit Accounts is due to be ended on 2021‑04‑07, the proposal made by the Hon. Prime Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Finance to further extend the validity period to encourage those are interested in making deposits in such accounts further and to issue regulations for the purpose in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act , was approved by the Cabinet.