Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has called on the government to reduce fuel prices, arguing that the recent decline in global crude oil prices should be passed through to domestic pump rates.
Speaking at a meeting with people affected by an alleged financial fraud involving Nation Lanka, Premadasa said the government had previously raised fuel prices citing rising global oil prices linked to Middle East tensions. Crude oil has since fallen back to levels seen before the conflict, he said, but consumers have not benefited from a corresponding reduction. “If fuel prices in Sri Lanka are increased when global oil prices rise, then they should also be reduced when global oil prices fall,” the SJB leader said.
Premadasa accused the government of subjecting fuel to high levels of taxation and of failing to deliver on earlier promises to provide fuel at lower prices, claiming it had lost public trust by not passing on the benefits of lower global oil prices. He said the SJB supports an immediate cut and would ensure that future price decreases are passed on to the public when global oil prices decline.
The call lands as Brent crude has slipped below US$80 a barrel on hopes of a US–Iran sanctions deal that could unlock additional Iranian barrels, the first sub-$80 print since the late-February Middle East war strikes. CPC Managing Director Mayura Neththikumarage said on May 29 that there would be no reduction at the upcoming June revision because procurement costs remained elevated, with diesel cargoes still landing in the US$140–150 a barrel range. The government has separately moved to a weekly fuel price revision formula under the IMF programme, which links pump prices to a rolling average of import costs.
Source: Sajith calls for Fuel Price Cut as Global Oil Prices fall — Newswire, June 17.
