17 March 2020 12:01 am
The government has decided to transfer the profit gained by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), through the fuel price slump in the world market, to the Treasury instead of reducing fuel prices in the local market.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Power and Energy Ministry said the fuel price reduction in correspondence with the price decline in the world market had not given any benefit to people as expected in the past and as such the ministry decided to use the profit earned by the CPC in a manner that would benefit all.
“Although the CPC had incurred a loss of Rs.610 billion, Power and Energy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has decided to offer the profit earned by the CPC to the Treasury. Coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on the world economy and there is a decline in the local share market as well. The revenue earned by national fish exports, tourism and the garment industry has plummeted steeply. Fish price has dropped from $16 to $6 a kilo, depriving the country of a sizable amount of foreign exchange. Besides, the government has to spend a huge amount of money on the quarantine process for suspected COVID-19 patients and for the treatment of those tested positive for the virus. Against this backdrop, the minister has decided to present a Cabinet paper to transfer the profit earned by the CPC to the Treasury,” the statement said.