Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser and MP Namal Rajapaksa has accused the government of increasing fuel taxes beyond their previous levels, saying the burden is being passed to the public at a time of rising living costs.
Speaking during a discussion with a group of MPs in Parliament, Rajapaksa said that although the government had provided limited relief through fuel price adjustments, higher taxation continued to weigh on consumers, the Daily Mirror reported.
He said the government had promised to supply fuel at landed import cost, remove commissions and reduce the existing fuel tax.
“Instead, they have increased fuel taxes beyond what they originally were, leaving the public to suffer the consequences.”
Rajapaksa said rising prices for milk powder and other essential food items had pushed living costs higher while salaries stayed flat. He also challenged ministers’ claims that fuel and gas queues had ended, saying people in both rural and urban areas continued to report shortages.
He asked whether additional taxes and investigations against alleged wrongdoers were the government’s only answers to the country’s economic difficulties, and accused it of trying to suppress the Opposition through what he described as fabricated evidence.
Over the past two and a half years, he said, the government had failed to introduce an effective programme to ease the cost of living, reduce education costs for schoolchildren or strengthen household finances. He claimed inflation had exceeded 8%.
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This desk has not independently verified Rajapaksa’s tax, inflation or shortage claims, and no government response was carried in the report.
Fuel pricing has been contested in Parliament for several weeks. On Friday, TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam questioned the Rs 41 billion fuel subsidy against the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s quarterly profit, and the CPC separately set out pricing agreements with private fuel operators.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a trade union convention on Saturday that the PAYE tax-free threshold would be raised in the 2027 Budget, which is due this month.
