The Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, Janaka Ratnayake says the price of fuel should be reduced further and not just by Rs. 20 as was announced last night.
Issuing a statement, Janaka Ratnayake said that a transparent fuel pricing system must be introduced.
“The price of petrol was reduced by 20 rupees last night. I had pointed out two weeks ago that the price of a liter of petrol and diesel can be reduced by 150 rupees. These facts were revealed based on the actual prices of fuel imported into Sri Lanka according to customs data. The officials of the petroleum industry have not yet revealed what the true prices are. There should be a transparent system to determine the fuel price which impact largely to the economy of Sri Lanka. The reduction that came into effect last night is not enough in accordance with the current world market prices. According to the current market data and the actual prices paid by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation for fuel import, the local price of a liter of fuel can be reduced by at least 100 rupees,” he said.
Ratnayake said that the fuel price formula should be implemented with a proper time frame which will not lead to irregularities in the market.
Further Mr Ratnayake points out that fuel prices that are not based on reasonable costs have severely affected electricity tariffs.
“Currently, there is a downward trend in crude oil prices in the world market. In order to take advantage of this, crude oil can be continuously supplied to the country’s refineries and all fuel types required for electricity generation can be provided at the lowest prices,” he said.
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka has the power to fully regulate the electricity industry through the Sri Lanka Electricity Act. The Commission was appointed to regulate the petroleum industry in 2006. But the acts enabling PUCSL to regulate the industry have not yet been passed by Parliament. Therefore, the Commission or any other regulatory body has no legal powers to intervene in the regulation of the petroleum industry.
