COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s state-owned fuel distributor Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) hiked the price of kerosene with effect from Sunday midnight to cut losses, reported Xinhua.
The CPC, in a statement, said the price of a litre of kerosene increased by 253 Sri Lankan rupees (US$0.7) to 340 rupees.
Kerosene is used among several vulnerable communities and was earlier sold at a subsidised rate of 87 rupees.
Last month, speaking in parliament, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said that they planed to raise the price of kerosene and give a subsidy to low-income groups. He said that the cost to produce a litre of kerosene is 421 rupees. Selling kerosene at a subsidised rate is one of the main reasons why the CPC makes a loss, the minister said. (1 US dollar equals 361 Sri Lankan rupees) - Bernama