Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila states that there is no discussion within the Ministry or the government regarding the increase in fuel prices. The Minister has stated this in response to a query made by journalists as to whether there are any plans to increase the price.
The Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) recently told the media that after the decision of the Ceylon Indian Oil Company to increase fuel prices, the company’s fuel consumers would also visit petrol stations owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Due to this the loss incurred by the corporation has further increased, he had said.
Although the Minister has stated that there is no discussion regarding the increase in fuel prices, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has already requested an increase in prices from the Ministry of Finance. Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Sumith Wijesinghe says that he expects the Ministry of Finance to approve the request.
It has been suggested to the Ministry of Finance that in order to minimize the losses incurred by the Corporation, a price increase should be made which would exceed the IOC prices.
When the last increase in fuel prices was announced at midnight, the media had reported that Minister Udaya Gammanpila- the Minister in charge of the subject was aware of it.
