New Delhi: In the middle of the financial crisis in Sri Lanka, the island people’s trouble has increased massively as the island nation’s state-run electricity monopoly on Tuesday announced that it will raise tariffs by a stinging 264 percent for people consuming the least.
The smallest consumers, currently charged 2.50 rupees a unit, will be charged 8.0 rupees. The bigger consumers are being charged 45 rupees a unit and will have to pay 75 rupees ($0.20).
Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said, “the regulator had allowed it to carry out the sharp increases, the first in nine years, from Wednesday to recoup part of its accumulated losses of $616 million,”
The official said, “CEB had asked for a bigger tariff increase of over 800 percent, but the regulator capped it at a maximum of 264 percent. Two-thirds of the 7.8 million households using less than 90 kilowatts a month will be affected by the highest increases, while bigger consumers will pay about 80 percent more,”
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis after running out of foreign exchange reserves to finance even its most essential imports such as food, fuel, and medicine.
Unable to repay its $51 billion foreign debt, the government declared it was defaulting in April and is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bailout. The country is also facing hyperinflation and lengthy electricity blackouts after the CEB was unable to buy oil for its thermal generators.
(Vinayak)