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| Thursday, 1 July 2004 |
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| No oil price hike, says Minister by Manjula Fernando Minister of Power and Energy Susil Premajayantha said the Government had no intention of increasing oil prices in keeping with world market rates since it would cause greater damage to the economy than the cost for retaining petroleum subsidy. At a media briefing yesterday at the Power and Energy Ministry the Minister said they hoped the prices would come down soon as it was too much of a burden for the government to continue the subsidy. "The news reaching us so far has been reassuring, that the world price of a barrel of oil is likely to come down within the next few months. But nothing is for sure," he said. "The price of a barrel of oil increased from US $ 30 in February to 42 last month. This was a 30 per cent increase. Even India unable to counter the problem gave in, in the end ." Minister Premajayantha added. India announced a oil price hike last week. The Government has been paying the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation nearly Rs.300 million a month since February this year to maintain a stable price so as not to pass the burden of the increase in the global market to the consumers. "It is not only the general consumers that we have to protect, but, also the local manufacturers. As it is they are fighting with high production costs," he said adding that the government must help local manufacturers secure a competitive market. Minister Premajayantha also assured that the Ceylon Electricity Board will not be privatised despite a heavy burden on the Government to meet the 900 Mega Watts daily demand for power during the day and 1500 MW at night. "We have launched a debt re-structuring program where we plan to maximise our efficiency of bill collection while cutting down on unnecessary expenses," the Minister said. He said the ministry is also planning to set up regional billing centres islandwide like the Telecom to make collection of payments more efficient and do away with the surcharge that is being effected by the banks. The Minister further said that they have not abandoned the Kotmale hydro power project completely, but, was evaluating the environmental impact to carry on with the project. Power and Energy Ministry Secretary P. Weerahandi and Additional Secretary Mrs. V. Jegarajasingham, Petroleum Resources Director General Titus Jayawardhana and senior officials of the ministry were present at the media conference. |
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