Sri Lanka’s fuel QR system will be enforced more rigorously in the coming months to curb rising consumption and ease pressure on the economy, Minister of Energy Anura Karunathilake announced today (01).
Addressing the media, the Minister said that while the QR and quota systems had already reduced fuel usage to some extent, demand still exceeds the country’s capacity.
“With this global crisis dragging on continuously, we have a great need to reduce fuel consumption. Through the QR system and quota system, we were able to achieve a considerable reduction, but still this has not reached the level required by the country,” he said.
He noted that global fuel price hikes have forced Sri Lanka to spend significant amounts of foreign exchange, including USD 186 million in January, USD 97 million in February, and USD 524 million in May alone.
Karunathilake warned that continuing at this pace would be unsustainable, stressing the need to cut consumption to reduce the outflow of dollars and protect the wider economy.
He added that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, together with the Ministry of Digital Technology, will take steps to tighten enforcement of the QR system.
“We believe that by strictly implementing the QR mechanism, fuel consumption can be reduced during this crisis period, thereby mitigating the impact on the national economy,” the Minister added. (Newswire)