Colombo: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Media reports on Friday said officials have been directed to stockpile adequate essential commodities and warned against organized attempts by traders to create artificial shortages amid the food shortage facing the island nation over the next three months. Is. Sri Lanka It is going through the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
The severe shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essential items, while power cuts and rising food prices have left people upset.
News portal Economy Next quoted a statement from the Presidential as saying, “President Rajapaksa has directed the relevant authorities to take measures to ensure that there is no shortage of goods and that some traders may raise prices by pretending to be a shortage of goods.” Organized efforts should be stopped.” The media department released on Friday.
President Rajapaksa also gave instructions consumer affairs authority According to the news portal, to take advantage of the prevailing situation and take legal action against those doing business at unreasonable prices. colombo page,
The president’s request comes after experts warned of a possible shortage of rice and other essential food items from September this year, amid the impact of the Rajapaksa regime that banned chemical fertilizers in April last year and a huge dollar to import imports. The inability to do so resulted in less production. shortfall, said the Economy Next report.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe The report also warned of severe food shortages by September, which would require USD 600 million to import fertilizers to the island nation amid Sri Lanka’s near-zero foreign exchange reserves, the report said.
Wickremesinghe meets senior officials United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and united nations development program (UNDP) here briefed him about the situation in the country.
Wickremesinghe said that at present the biggest problem facing the agriculture sector is the shortage of fertilizers and fuel.
Before the fertilizer ban Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice production.
“A part of the agricultural produce distributed in the wholesale market should be made available directly in the rural market,” the PMD said in the statement.
The President said that this would reduce the cost of transportation and provide rural consumers an opportunity to buy goods at lower prices as well as farmers to get higher prices.
Rising inflation rates have continued to plague the beleaguered Sri Lankan economy, with the national consumer price index registering a year-on-year increase of 33.8 per cent in April this year, more than six times as compared to last year’s 5.5 per cent.
Annual food inflation stood at 45.1 percent this month Census and Statistics DepartmentWhich tracks the inflation rates in the country.
Last month, the Sri Lankan government hiked petrol prices by 24.3 per cent and diesel by 38.4 per cent, amid the country’s worst economic crisis due to lack of foreign exchange reserves.
Sri Lanka is now negotiating a loan with the IMF.
The country was supposed to pay USD 106.34 million this year but managed to pay only USD 12.4 million till April.
In March 2020, the Sri Lankan government imposed import restrictions as dollar inflows slowed.
President Rajapaksa’s sweeping tax cuts in 2019, followed by the pandemic, also played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s economy going into a tailspin.
The economic crisis has also led to political unrest, with more than 55 days of protests at the entrance of the presidential office demanding his resignation.
The severe shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essential items, while power cuts and rising food prices have left people upset.
News portal Economy Next quoted a statement from the Presidential as saying, “President Rajapaksa has directed the relevant authorities to take measures to ensure that there is no shortage of goods and that some traders may raise prices by pretending to be a shortage of goods.” Organized efforts should be stopped.” The media department released on Friday.
President Rajapaksa also gave instructions consumer affairs authority According to the news portal, to take advantage of the prevailing situation and take legal action against those doing business at unreasonable prices. colombo page,
The president’s request comes after experts warned of a possible shortage of rice and other essential food items from September this year, amid the impact of the Rajapaksa regime that banned chemical fertilizers in April last year and a huge dollar to import imports. The inability to do so resulted in less production. shortfall, said the Economy Next report.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe The report also warned of severe food shortages by September, which would require USD 600 million to import fertilizers to the island nation amid Sri Lanka’s near-zero foreign exchange reserves, the report said.
Wickremesinghe meets senior officials United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and united nations development program (UNDP) here briefed him about the situation in the country.
Wickremesinghe said that at present the biggest problem facing the agriculture sector is the shortage of fertilizers and fuel.
Before the fertilizer ban Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice production.
“A part of the agricultural produce distributed in the wholesale market should be made available directly in the rural market,” the PMD said in the statement.
The President said that this would reduce the cost of transportation and provide rural consumers an opportunity to buy goods at lower prices as well as farmers to get higher prices.
Rising inflation rates have continued to plague the beleaguered Sri Lankan economy, with the national consumer price index registering a year-on-year increase of 33.8 per cent in April this year, more than six times as compared to last year’s 5.5 per cent.
Annual food inflation stood at 45.1 percent this month Census and Statistics DepartmentWhich tracks the inflation rates in the country.
Last month, the Sri Lankan government hiked petrol prices by 24.3 per cent and diesel by 38.4 per cent, amid the country’s worst economic crisis due to lack of foreign exchange reserves.
Sri Lanka is now negotiating a loan with the IMF.
The country was supposed to pay USD 106.34 million this year but managed to pay only USD 12.4 million till April.
In March 2020, the Sri Lankan government imposed import restrictions as dollar inflows slowed.
President Rajapaksa’s sweeping tax cuts in 2019, followed by the pandemic, also played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s economy going into a tailspin.
The economic crisis has also led to political unrest, with more than 55 days of protests at the entrance of the presidential office demanding his resignation.