Power: A year after, the Sri Lankans to gets back 24×7 light—at a higher cost, though
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After Pakistan’s collapsing economy hogged the headlines in recent months, India’s yet another next-door neighbor Sri Lanka has brought some good news: the Sri Lankans, reeling under unprecedented economic hardships will now get 24×7 electricity, although at a higher cost.
The media reported on Thursday that, after a year of load-shedding, Sri Lankans would get continuous power from Thursday, albeit with a hike in tariff in line with the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Sri Lankan government’s move comes as the debt-hit country, which announced default in April 2022, aims to secure a much-needed USD 2.9 billion tranche from the Washington-based global lender.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe directed officials to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to customers after the tariff revision is implemented, a statement from the President’s Media Division said.
The state power entity said the power cuts ranging from one to 14 hours from January 2022 would end on Thursday. A 66 percent tariff hike would be in effect, the second in the last six months. A 70 percent rate increase was introduced in August last year.
The government opted for a cost-reflective tariff plan the IMF dictated, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said. “This will be a giant step in securing the IMF facility,” he said.
The island nation awaits the formal approval of the IMF for a USD 2.9 billion bailout package over four years as it aims to recover from its worst-ever economic crisis after announcing its first-ever default, amid a political and economic turmoil that uprooted the dominant Rajapakse dynasty’s stranglehold on the country in mid-2022.
The IMF said that state energy entities Ceylon Electricity Board and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation should not bank on the Treasury for cash injections to run their operations. Wijesekara added that the exchequer had injected SLR 120 billion into the two institutions.
“The treasury has no money to subsidize electricity,” he said. “With increased revenue, we will be able to buy the fuel necessary to ensure no power cuts,” Wijesekara said.
Trade unions and the opposition parties criticized the fresh tariff hike and vowed protests to force the government to reduce it. The long power cuts and shortage of essential commodities in 2022 led to widespread street protests, which chased the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa out of office.
The debt-ridden country owes a total of USD 51 billion in foreign debt, of which USD 28 billion must be paid by 2027. The South Asian island nation has seen protests against the government since early April last year because of its mishandling of the economic crisis.
A crippling shortage of foreign reserves led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas, and other essentials, while power cuts and soaring food prices heaped misery on the people.
