No electricity tariff hike

The Ministry of Power and Energy says it has not taken a decision to increase existing electricity tariffs.Speaking to NewsRadio, Business Development and Media Director at the Ministry of Power Sulakshana Jayawardena said despite media reports, the government has not taken a decision to increase electricity tariffs.

He said as a short term solution to the power crisis, it resorted to emergency purchases from the private sector.

Sulakshana Jayawardena attributed the present crisis to the hike in power demand and the steep decrease in hydro power generation

While acknowledging a considerable budget deficit within the Ministry of Power, Sulakshana Jayawardena said the Ministry intends on managing the resources adding that authorities have not held any discussions pertaining to an increase in electricity tariffs.

Commenting on the present periodic power outages, Business Development and Media Director Sulakshana Jayawardena said the Ministry has taken all efforts to resolve the prevalent crisis.

Sulakshana Jayawardena said he expects the prevalent power crisis to end before the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year period.