Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP, Harsha de Silva has questioned the government’s justification for maintaining current fuel prices despite a decline in global oil prices, urging Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya to explain the basis for the pricing decisions.
Addressing the media, de Silva said the government had swiftly increased local fuel prices before the global oil prices rose following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, but was now refusing to reduce prices despite international prices having fallen.
“When the war started and global oil prices increased, they immediately raised fuel prices here, before the global oil prices went up. There is a pricing formula, but they didn’t use it then. They increased prices on their own,” he said.
He criticised the government’s current position that fuel prices can only be revised according to the pricing formula, saying the explanation was inconsistent with its earlier actions.
“They now say there is a formula and that prices will be adjusted according to it. Someone should tell our Prime Minister to go and investigate what really happened,” he said.
Asked how much fuel prices could actually be reduced, de Silva called on the government to publicly disclose the fuel pricing formula.
“Let them present the formula openly. Why are they hiding it when it can easily be made public?” he said.
He recalled that previous governments had published the pricing formula, noting that former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had introduced it and former Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera had also presented it publicly.
“There used to be transparency. But this government is hiding it. If they release the formula, everyone can see what the actual price reduction should be,” he said.
He also questioned the government’s explanation that fuel prices could not yet be reduced because existing stocks had been purchased at higher prices.
“They claimed they couldn’t reduce prices because they bought fuel at higher rates. Now they say there is relief because of the President. The Prime Minister knows very well that this so-called relief ends at the end of this month,”
He further alleged that the government had imported an unnecessarily large quantity of fuel in April and called for an inquiry into the purchases.
“I think we will have to investigate why they bought such a massive quantity of Petrol and Diesel when it wasn’t necessary,” he said. (Newswire)