Work from home soon

Colombo, May 25 (Daily Mirror) - In a bid for economic risk mitigation over the falling dollar rate and surging import bills, the government mulls the reintroduction of work from home for the public and private sector employees as done during the pandemic , an official said yesterday.

The official who wished to remain anonymous said that the plan would be announced either today or tomorrow.

He said the government urgently needed to save on fuel usage ,particularly diesel at the time.

In recent days, the rupee value has crumbled . According to the latest exchange rates, the US Dollar buying rate reached Rs. 342.63, while the selling rate reached Rs. 354.03, up from Rs. 332.23 recorded on Wednesday . Later, the rupee appreciated .

The Central Bank Governor, Nandalal Weerasinghe , earlier said that necessary interventions would be make if the rate kept falling further .

The government has attributed the current phenomenon to the fallout of the Middle East war. Sri Lanka’s import bill has surged way above gains from exports. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had spent more than US $ 1 billion for fuel imports for the first four months of this year.

Besides, around US $ 2 billion had been spent for vehicle imports after the government relaxed restriction in February, last year.

Meanwhile, CPC Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said his office should settle as much as US $ 522 million for fuel imported during April.

"We are now trying to make the payment . The monthly fuel bill remained at US $ 100-110. It has shot up to over US $ 500 million at the moment ," he said.

However, he said that the oil supply remained steady at the moment.

"High world market prices are the problem for us," he said.