When contacted by ‘Asian Mirror’, a trader said  Dhal prices in the market will go down from next week. Dhal is one of the most widely used food items in Sri Lanka.

It is still not clear as to why the government the government decided to reduce import taxes on Dhal all of a sudden. Through the budget proposals last year, the government decided to increase taxes on a number of imported food items, aiming to promote local production. With this new move, the government has suddenly deviated from that policy.

Although Asian Mirror attempted to contact a government spokesman to ask about the circumstances leading to this sudden policy change, our efforts did not bear fruit.

However, a Parliamentarian representing the opposition said the decision is directly linked to Western and Southern Provincial Council elections.