WEB DESK
Sri Lanka’s Public Utilities Commission has approved the hike in power tariff to the tune of 66 per cent. The four-member commission approved the tariff hike with a majority while the Chairman of the Commission Janaka Ratnayake dissented.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Sri Lanka’s power minister Kanchana Wijesekara said that with the tariff hike, the island will have no power cuts from today.
He further said that arrangements have also been made with state banks to obtain fuel, naphtha, and coal for the production of electricity. The Minister also assured that this tariff hike does not cover long-standing costs or gives additional income to the Ceylon Electricity Board.
Under the IMF’s staff-level agreement, Sri Lanka has to operate cost-reflective tariffs. Sri Lanka is making efforts to unlock a 2.9 billion dollar bridge financing from IMF which India had backed as the first creditor nation.
Sri Lanka has been facing runaway inflation over the last year which has eased slightly to 54 percent in January.