Sri Lanka currently holds sufficient fuel stocks for the next two months, Cabinet spokesperson Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said.
The Minister made these reassurances following comments made by the Energy Minister, claiming that Sri Lanka does not have the means to store sufficient fuel stocks.
Responding to journalists at the weekly Cabinet media briefing, Minister Jayatissa clarified that the country does have the capacity to meet fuel demand in the short term, countering earlier remarks.
The Minister also addressed concerns that the government is now using a pricing formula introduced by the previous administration—a system this government had previously criticized.
“Fuel prices for July are determined on June 30 by calculating the average price of that month,” the Minister explained. “The price is not determined by the fuel price in May or April.”
“You are aware that there was a price increase in fuel in the month of June, especially the fuel stocks brought down in the last two weeks of June, which is what was taken into account in this pricing formula,” he added.
Jayatissa maintained that the most practical approach under current economic conditions is to continue using the fuel pricing formula. This method is intended to address fluctuations in global prices and manage the financial burden of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which has accumulated debt due to past irregularities, he said.
“Through the past seven months, we have provided the public concessions in fuel pricing, whenever we could. The effects of the irregularities that occurred previously doesn’t stop the impact on the present,” Jayatissa noted. (Newswire)
