Sri Lanka needs to market price energy and consumers are now not only paying for the rise in international prices, but also for the high expenditure involved in operating the public sector, a think tank has said.
Referring to official statements that the fuel import bill this year may be around 4.0 billion US dollars The Point Pedro Institute of Development, a think tank, says direct and indirect subsidies on fuel should be removed. Mutukisna Sarvanandan who heads the think tank says the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) should be privatized.
CPC has tens of thousands of employees, who have been 'stuffed' into the institution by successive governments.
In the first quarter of 2008 Lanka OIC, a unit of the Indian Oil Corporation which has about a quarter of the fuel retail business managed to turn a profit, compared to massive losses claimed at CPC.
"Sri Lankan consumers of petroleum products are not only paying for the rise in international prices," Sarvanandan said.
"They are also paying for the bloated bureaucracy, corruption and wastages at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Privatisation of the CPC is long overdue. "
LIOC also refuses to sell kerosene at a loss and led the way in raising petroleum prices last month, when international prices spiked to record levels.
CPC on the other hand keeps prices because politicians in the country and even some policymakers have the bizarre belief that inflation is a petroleum phenomenon rather than a monetary one.
Economic analyst say fuel subsidies which are financed with borrowings from the banking system has put pressure on the currency and helped drive inflation to very high levels in the past.
Sarvanandan says oil exploration and the search for alternative energy takes time but immediate measures need to be taken to mitigate the rise in oil prices.
The cost of most alternative sources of energy, especially bio-fuel, is higher than that of oil.
Unlike alternatives oil is heavily taxed, and is a major revenue earner for the government. Meanwhile transport minister Dallas Alahapperuma revealed last week that the state-run Sri Lanka Transport Board lost 4.0 billion rupees last year, and had 37,000 employees and had 6,000 excess employees at least.
Meanwhile private buses ran at a profit. The state rail service had 17,000 employees, lost 8.5 billion rupees.
Last year Sri Lanka Railways charged ordinary citizens 50 cents a passenger kilometre while state workers were charged only 5 cents a passenger kilometre. Rail workers were charged only 3 cents.
Rail tariffs have since been almost doubled.
LBO
Government jobs
putuwa rath karana jobs
Referring to official statements that the fuel import bill this year may be around 4.0 billion US dollars The Point Pedro Institute of Development, a think tank, says direct and indirect subsidies on fuel should be removed. Mutukisna Sarvanandan who heads the think tank says the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) should be privatized.
CPC has tens of thousands of employees, who have been 'stuffed' into the institution by successive governments.
In the first quarter of 2008 Lanka OIC, a unit of the Indian Oil Corporation which has about a quarter of the fuel retail business managed to turn a profit, compared to massive losses claimed at CPC.
"Sri Lankan consumers of petroleum products are not only paying for the rise in international prices," Sarvanandan said.
"They are also paying for the bloated bureaucracy, corruption and wastages at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Privatisation of the CPC is long overdue. "
LIOC also refuses to sell kerosene at a loss and led the way in raising petroleum prices last month, when international prices spiked to record levels.
CPC on the other hand keeps prices because politicians in the country and even some policymakers have the bizarre belief that inflation is a petroleum phenomenon rather than a monetary one.
Economic analyst say fuel subsidies which are financed with borrowings from the banking system has put pressure on the currency and helped drive inflation to very high levels in the past.
Sarvanandan says oil exploration and the search for alternative energy takes time but immediate measures need to be taken to mitigate the rise in oil prices.
The cost of most alternative sources of energy, especially bio-fuel, is higher than that of oil.
Unlike alternatives oil is heavily taxed, and is a major revenue earner for the government. Meanwhile transport minister Dallas Alahapperuma revealed last week that the state-run Sri Lanka Transport Board lost 4.0 billion rupees last year, and had 37,000 employees and had 6,000 excess employees at least.
Meanwhile private buses ran at a profit. The state rail service had 17,000 employees, lost 8.5 billion rupees.
Last year Sri Lanka Railways charged ordinary citizens 50 cents a passenger kilometre while state workers were charged only 5 cents a passenger kilometre. Rail workers were charged only 3 cents.
Rail tariffs have since been almost doubled.
LBO
Government jobs
putuwa rath karana jobs
