Sri Lanka increased fuel prices on Tuesday, a long-flagged move to mend public finances and combat its debilitating economic crisis, but the hikes are bound to add to galloping inflation at least in the short term. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a message on Twitter that petrol prices would increase by 20-24% while diesel prices would rise by 35-38% with immediate effect. Daily limits on how much each consumer can purchase will continue. “The government will hold talks with transport sector stakeholders to increase costs parallel to the latest increases,” he later said in an online cabinet briefing. Fuel and transport price increases will inevitably flow through to food and other goods, economists said. Annual inflation in the island nation rose to a record 33.8% in April compared with 21.5% in March, according to government data released on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2022.
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