Fuel market price has remained unchanged for 4 months despite formula price fluctuations, reports PublicFinance.lk, Sri Lanka’s premier platform for economic insights.

According to the PublicFinance.lk fuel price tracker, since December 2024, the market prices of 92-octane petrol and auto diesel have remained at Rs. 309 and Rs. 286 per litre, respectively, despite fluctuations in formula prices between January 2025 and March 2025.

The formula price of 92-octane petrol was Rs.298.85 in January 2025, rose to Rs. 307.53 in February, and reached Rs. 310.14 in March—an overall increase of Rs. 11.29 per litre. 

As a result, where the formula price was Rs. 10.15 below the market price in January, it exceeded the market price by Rs. 1.14 in March.

Currently, the market price falls within a 2% range of the formula price, indicating that market prices are effectively on par with the formula price.

However, the market price of auto diesel, which was Rs. 2.14 lower than the formula price in February, is now Rs. 4.16 higher. 

This change is due to a reduction in the formula price from Rs. 288.14 in February to Rs. 281.84 in March, while the market price remained unchanged. 

As a result, auto diesel prices also fall within the 2% range, indicating alignment with the formula price.

For further details, including taxes per litre and a comparison of Sri Lanka’s fuel prices with regional countries, visit the Fuel Price Tracker. (Newswire)

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Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has challenged the government’s Public Finance Management Bill in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, citing concerns over public procurement.

TISL which filed legal action against the Bill this week stated that it “seriously weakens the controls on public procurement, thereby enhancing the corruption risk and weakening the level playing field.”

According to TISL, the bill grants the Finance Minister the discretion to exempt State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from complying with the National Procurement Guidelines and allows Provincial Councils to adopt their own procurement guidelines.

The petition (SC SD 77/2024) points out that Clause 32 of the Bill seriously weakens the controls on public procurement, thereby enhancing the corruption risk and weakening the level playing field.

The Bill was published in the Gazette on May 10 and presented to Parliament for the first reading on May 22. Clause 32 (3) grants the Finance Minister the discretion to exempt State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from compliance with the National Procurement Guidelines, while Clause 32 (4) permits Provincial Councils to adopt their own procurement guidelines.

TISL seeks a Supreme Court determination that these provisions related to procurement violate Article 3 (Sovereignty of the people) and Article 12 (Right to equal protection of the law) of the Constitution.

The petition, filed in the public interest, names the Attorney General as the respondent. (Newswire)

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State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe has disclosed the government’s domestic and external debt figures in Parliament today.

The Minister revealed the figures during the second reading of the Public Debt Management Bill.

The domestic debt figure stood at Rs. 17,051 billion as of December 31, 2023, and increased to Rs. 17,252 billion by March 31, 2024, Semasinghe said.

Additionally, he highlighted that the foreignl debt portfolio stands at USD 37 billion, which includes outstanding external debt installments amounting to USD 5.5 billion from April 2022.

“This is because although we have serviced multilateral debt, we have not yet serviced bilateral debts,” Semasinghe said responding to a query raised by the Chief Opposition Whip. (Newswire)

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The Government of Sri Lanka and the World Bank, European Union (EU) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) recently signed financing agreements to help strengthen Sri Lanka’s management of public finances.

According to the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka, the grant of EUR 9.8 million for Public Finance Management aims to support improving economic governance, transparency, and accountability in how public finances are spent. 

“Weak management of public finances contributed to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, so it is crucial to strengthen core public finance institutions and systems to shore up the economic recovery and get the country on a sustainable growth path,” said Chiyo Kanda, World Bank Country Manager for Maldives, and Sri Lanka. “This project will leverage technology to develop and scale up the government’s nascent e-procurement system (e-GP) and enhance the institutional capacity of the National Audit Office of Sri Lanka, both important steps towards enhancing efficiency and transparency in public procurement and external audits.”

The public sector is the largest purchaser of goods, works, and non-consulting services in Sri Lanka’s domestic market. Procurement of these goods and services is often delayed due to cumbersome and outdated procedures and processes, limited understanding of market approaches, and lack of capacity and empowerment of procurement decision-makers. 

“In the absence of digitized procurement tools and an efficient e-procurement system, Sri Lanka misses out on opportunities to leverage economies of scale and to monitor the efficiency and timeliness of procurement,” said HE Denis Chaibi, Ambassador of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “A strong and modernized public finance management system is vital for the country to mitigate the risk of crises in the future and to establish accountability and public trust in the system. The European Union—through the World Bank—is pleased to support institutional capacity and transparency in Sri Lanka’s procurement and audit, which will improve economic governance and aid Sri Lanka’s recovery.”

The project aims to strengthen the overall accountability framework by improving the performance of the National Audit Office of Sri Lanka in terms of stronger governance, greater accountability, and enhanced institutional capacity in areas relating to audit planning, quality assurance, staff capacity, engagement of citizens in the audit process, as well as in specialized audits such as procurement and environment audits. (NewsWire)

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Incomes in Sri Lanka must grow by 160%, in order to maintain the same level of consumption one did in 2015, PublicFinance.lk reported.

According to the Sri Lankan public finance platform, Sri Lanka is set to experience a 160% increase in nominal GDP from the 2015 levels of LKR 11.6 trillion as the projected nominal GDP for 2023 is estimated at LKR 30.3 trillion.

PublicFinance.lk said, however, while the real GDP in 2023 remains relatively unchanged from the 2015 levels, the doubling of nominal GDP highlights the need for a corresponding increase in incomes to maintain the same level of consumption as in 2015. (NewsWire)

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