He was responding to a question raised by UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma on the fall of prices of tea buds.

He said the Tea Export Board was granted Rs. 1 billion by the Treasury to provide relief for affected tea smallholders due to the prevailing crisis.

The Prime Minister said new markets for tea will be explored in countries such as India, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran, to address the crisis in the tea industry, He said  tea exports had not reached new markets over the past years. Tea had been exported mainly to Russia.

“The economy of Russia and Ukraine had been affected. There are conflicts in the Middle East,” he said.