President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has confirmed the government will provide a fuel subsidy of up to Rs. 100 per litre on diesel, framing the relief as a response to global price pressures stemming from the Middle East energy crisis.
Speaking at the launch of the National QR Payment Adoption Programme on April 7, the President said digitised transactions were essential to formalise Sri Lanka’s economy and improve the targeting of welfare measures, including fuel subsidies.
Dissanayake highlighted the regressive nature of flat-rate fuel subsidies, noting that “in a scenario where a rural user buys five litres of diesel, they receive Rs. 500 in subsidy, whereas a large vehicle filling 100 litres receives Rs. 10,000.” He said comprehensive transaction data was needed to direct relief to households and small operators rather than commercial fleets.
The diesel subsidy comes as Sri Lanka continues to ration fuel under QR-coded weekly quotas following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the suspension of multiple Gulf supply routes. CPC has secured nine fuel shipments for April from India, Singapore and China, though Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela storage limits continue to constrain dispatch.
The President urged retailers to adopt LankaQR — for which the Central Bank waived merchant fees throughout April — and previewed plans for person-to-person QR payments and lottery-based incentives to accelerate digital uptake.
The full mechanism for delivering the diesel relief, including which categories of users will qualify and how the per-litre subsidy interacts with existing CPC pricing, has not yet been gazetted. The Finance Ministry froze fuel allowances for senior officials earlier this month, signalling that targeted relief — not blanket subsidies — is the policy direction.
