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The funds are likely to be given to the Department of Commerce which administers the Export Development Reward Scheme (EDRS).
An official of the Department of Commerce said cash transfers will be made to exporters who have complied with the requirements of the ERDS. Granting tax exemptions in lieu of a cash transfer, is also an option available to exporters, but exporters said they wanted hard cash.
Exporters must maintain more than 90 percent of their returns compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year, in order to qualify for a reward of 3 percent of the export value.
A reward of 5 percent will be paid to those who equal quarterly export proceeds.
Exporters complain that auditors are charging high fees to certify export proceeds.
Another requirement to be eligible for the reward is to maintain jobs at levels before the global crisis began to affect Sri Lanka by the fourth quarter of 2008.
According to the Department of Census and Statistics, 96,000 jobs were lost during the first quarter of 2009; 60,000 in the Apparel sector and 36,000 in the construction sector. Government officials said they still do not have precise numbers.
