May 24, Colombo: State Minister of Finance Dr. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says that the manufacturers have agreed to reduce the price of local school bags and shoes by 10 percent.

The minister points out that this agreement was reached in response to a request to give consumers the benefit of the drop in raw material prices in line with the devaluation of the dollar relative to the rupee.

The manufacturers have taken this step according to the agreements reached in a discussion with the minister last month.

The minister said that in a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance yesterday (23) to inform about the price reduction, they agreed to carry out this price reduction from July 15.

Accordingly, the prices of school bags and shoes will decrease by an amount between Rs. 350 and 450.

The Minister further mentioned that a review meeting will be held with the manufacturers regarding the prices in another month and further price reduction will be considered according to the prevailing market conditions and the value of the dollar.