Global fuel prices not only reason for Sri Lanka’s price hike - Gammanpila

Former Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila says that the increase in global fuel prices is not the only reason for the increase in fuel prices in Sri Lanka.

Speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo today (14), the PHU leader said that the highest fuel price hike in the history of Sri Lanka was carried out last Friday.

“If the General Secretary of the SLPP, Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam was alive today he would have issued a media statement asking Minister Gamini Lokuge to resign.” 

“The increase in global fuel prices is not the only reason for the increase in fuel prices by such a massive amount,” Gammanpila said.

He said a number of other factors contributed to this and that the main reason is that the rupee has had to depreciate massively due to the rupee being pegged artificially for over a year due to improper management of foreign exchange.

The former minister said that the government earns more than Rs. 750 million a day from taxes levied on fuel and that the government could have taken part of this burden by cutting unnecessary government expenditure, without imposing this burden on the people.

Meanwhile the Minister of Energy Gamini Lokuge today stated that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has the required quantity of petrol and diesel for the country and has supplied the required amount of fuel to the CEB and power plants.

The Minister said that the distribution of fuel stocks required by the people of the country has also been done.

He was speaking at a media briefing in Colombo today (14).