Govt. not in a position to increase gas price at this juncture: Amaraweera

The President and members of the committee appointed to investigate the price of LP gas are on a common  stance not to raise domestic gas prices at this juncture, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Following a meeting with the heads of the two gas giants at the Ministry, the Minister stated that the Litro Gas company had requested a Rs.670 price hike for a cylinder, but the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) was considering to grant permission to increase the price by Rs.400, but no decision was reached.

"The committee meets with the heads of the two gas companies every day."The committee requested the two companies to propose a better way to solve the issue without going through a price increase.

 However, there was no response from the gas companies even at yesterday's meeting," Minister Amaraeera said.

"The gas companies claimed that they used to run the business at a loss of more than Rs. 1 billion a month during the past few months. They also said that gas prices should be increased due to the appreciation of the dollar and the huge increase in the price of LP gas in the world market," the Minister said.

However, this is not the right time to increase the prices of gas, he added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)