11 October 2021 03:42 pm
If the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) does not receive any concession from the government and unable to bear the loss, there will be no choice but to increase the fuel prices, Petroleum Minister Udaya Gammanpila said.
Addressing the media today, he said, "Considering the current situation, there is nothing to hide and I am not doing anything to hide it."
If the government is able to provide relief to the CPC and take a decision not to increase the fuel prices, then they should do it, Gammanpila said.
Minister Gammanpila said that he hopes to discuss with the Cabinet regarding the increase in fuel prices.
According to the world market fuel price, if Sri Lanka continue to sell fuel in the local market at the current price, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will incur a huge loss during this month.
If the current loss becomes recurrent, the CPC, the government, and the total economy of the country will be unable to bear it, the Minister added.
Therefore, the minister requested the CPC Chairman to bring the current situation to the special attention of the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, CPC Chairman W.W.D. Sumith Wijesinghe said, currently, the Petroleum Corporation incurs a loss of Rs. 14.56 per litre of petrol.
“The loss incur on diesel stands at Rs. 31.46. If we continue this trend, we will incur a loss of Rs. 70 billion by October 31,” he said.
The only alternative that the Petroleum Corporation should do in such a situation, is to increase the fuel prices, Wijesinghe said.
Therefore, we draw the government's attention to the need of a price increase, he added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)