COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera assured to cut fuel prices in April citing falling international oil prices and ability to get a competitive prices after regained trust from suppliers due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan approval.
“We see the crude oil prices are coming down and we see the rupee is appreciating,” Wijesekera told the Parliament on Tuesday (21), adding, “The president has advised and we assure the general public that a fuel price relief will be given in April price adjustment.”
After the central bank printed money to maintain an artificially low policy rates, the currency collapsed and international rating agencies downgraded Sri Lanka, making suppliers reluctant to provide supplies on credit basis.
Global banks also halted providing Letter of Credit (LC) for importers in both the private and state sectors due to possible default risk amid forex shortage.
The state run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) rationed fuel supply through a QR code system limiting the amount of fuel issued per week and started fuel price adjustment monthly through a price formula according to the international oil prices.
“With the IMF approval, from next week we hope we will get the chance to open LCs again which was one of our biggest struggles we had because there was no way we could give a guarantee to our suppliers,” the minister said.
“After we get that, we will be able to import at competitive prices in the market and we will get a credit time to repay for the supplies.”
-econmynext.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.