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Bracing for price rises

Predictably, fuel prices will be registering a rise very soon. A front page news report in this newspaper yesterday said that petrol, diesel and kerosene prices will be up by Rs. 2 per litre from next week. This is only to be expected, considering the increase in global crude oil prices coming in the wake of the rising tensions in the Gulf, in particular.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which has thus far been maintaining stable fuel prices can no longer hold out against global fuel price increases if it is to maintain operational viability. Thus the cost of living burden of the people could be expected to rise further, for reasons well beyond the control of the State. Precipitate military action in the Gulf against Iraq could breed tremendous hardships and misery for almost all developing countries, considering their economic vulnerabilities and heavy dependence on oil imports.

However, we believe Iraq should obey Security Council decisions as a good global citizen. The people need to gird themselves to endure a new and rising round of economic rigours. Rising fuel prices are an immensely sensitive issue because they impact very strongly on a range of prices and have a snowballing effect on the cost of living. Thus, besides transport charges and fares, very many consumer goods, such as vegetables, fish and meats, could also register a price rise. In fact, most eatables could be expected to fetch a higher price.

All this may be nothing new in most ears, but most sections of the body politic may not be in a state of readiness to bear the sacrifices which rising fuel prices may engender. When we say this we do not have only the public in mind. Even the rulers of the land and their associates need to take cognizance of these demands.

The disheartening tendency, thus far, is for some Ministers, MPs and their officials to carry on regardless with their resource-gobbling lifestyles while the common people wilt away in the rigours of the oil-driven economic crises.

This leads to social and political tensions besides proving parasitical. We hope the ruling and political elites would curb wasteful ways out of consideration for the miseries of the common man. We hope the current economic pressures would prove to be a great leveller and not further aggravate social distinctions. On the other hand, in a difficult situation, it is hoped that the general public would read the writing on the wall and initiate the necessary austerity measures to save as many resources as possible.

While, in a greatly liberalized economy which is today on the mend, it would not be easy to save on fuel and other essentials important to keep productive enterprises afloat, superfluous use of fuel should be curbed to the extent possible to preserve as much fuel as possible. Such restrictions need to be exercised by almost all sections of the citizenry if the country is to tide over the crisis. We hope, for instance, that travel would be curtailed to the minimum. Perhaps, we need to use public transport as much as possible, although this option too carries its torments.

In all these trials which the people would be facing collectively, the country's ruling and political elites need to be with the people both bodily and spiritually. A good example from 'the top' in exercising economies in the use of fuel, is bound to go a long way.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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