‘Minimal impact from fuel price hike’

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

‘The increase in fuel prices would only have a minimal impact on the public and even the increase in the electricity tariff would not have a major shock on the consumers’ monthly bills’, said Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

Speaking to the media last evening, he said that an average customer who had a monthly electricity bill of around Rs. 291, now would have to pay an additional Rs. 100, while a household which had a bill of around Rs. 550 would now have to pay around Rs. 760. “If you take an average each consumer would have to pay around Rs. 12 to 19 per day under the new tariff system,” he said.

The Ceylon Electricity board spends Rs. 21 to produce a unit of electricity and they sell it to the consumer at Rs. 13 37. The Central Bank Governor said that no government wants to increase prices and prices are increased only when it is essential. “A fuel hike should have been imposed from last August to minimize the huge losses sustained by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation,

but, it was not implemented," he disclosed.

"Even with the recent fuel adjustments, the price of petrol and diesel in Sri Lanka still remains lower than that of Singapore, Australia, England, Germany, France, Spain and Italy" he said .

"A car run on petrol travelling to Colombo and back each day (around 18 km) with the revision of fuel prices would only have to pay an addition of Rs. 43.60 while the additional cost for a diesel vehicle is Rs.111.60 per day" he said.

Cabraal also said that one must remember that Sri Lanka still enjoys the lowest inflation era in the history of the country and also the highest per capita income ($ 2,830).

He said that some of the prices of essential goods, such as, Red rice (from Rs. 72. 96 per kilo in January 2010 to Rs. 55 and Samba from Rs. 88 to 68. per kilo) have drastically come down.

In addition, a kilo of dhal has come down from Rs. 135 to Rs. 95 and onions from Rs. 137 to Rs. 75 during the same period.