The Cabinet has extended the moratorium on the import of vehicles for another six months. According to Finance Minister, Lekey Dorji, this is considering the country’s current foreign reserve situation. The moratorium was initially announced in August 2022 and was extended twice. It will now remain in effect until August.
Similar to the previous moratorium, utility vehicles costing less than Nu 1.5 M and those with space at the back such as pickup trucks will be exempted. Also, heavy machinery used in construction and agriculture won’t be affected.
Likewise, taxis and buses endorsed by the Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority and tourism-related vehicles endorsed by the Department of Tourism, will be exempted.
The moratorium on vehicles aims to help conserve foreign exchange reserves.
“The imports are important. However, it is important to consider the foreign reserve situation. As mentioned before, our foreign reserve is a little bit less. Therefore, we have decided to extend it for another six months. Such an extension is important because we might lose all the foreign reserves. During the six months, we will build the foreign reserve through tourism so that within the six months, we will be able to lift the moratorium,” said the Finance Minister.
According to the Royal Monetary Authority’s monthly statistical bulletin, the foreign exchange reserve stands at USD 533 M as of November last year.
Singye Dema
Edited by Sonam Pem
