President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has called on the people to reduce fuel and electricity consumption as much as possible and to support the country at this difficult time.
“Some of the decisions I have taken in the recent past have helped me to control the cost of imports to a great extent. We stopped importing vehicles two years ago because we saw this problem in advance. In addition, we encouraged industries that meet our needs locally. We also stopped the importation of many non-essential food items and planted those crops in our own country. We now see the successful results of them.
The most serious problem we face in controlling the cost of imports is the rapidly rising oil prices in the world market. On average, more than 20 percent of our import bill is spent on oil. In the last few months alone, world oil prices have more than doubled. This is the reason why the increase in fuel prices in our country was inevitable.
This is why I continued to discuss and encourage relevant agencies to use renewable energy sources as much as possible.
Therefore, by restricting the use of oil and electricity as much as possible, the people too can support the country at this time. I hope you understand that responsibility in this difficult time. ”
The President said this in a special address to the nation last night (16).
