Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said the Government will provide essential items to the people during the forthcoming festive season without any shortage.
He said the foreign exchange crisis in Sri Lanka is short-lived and the Government will minimise its impact on the people.
The first meeting of the Committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to provide essential commodities to consumers without any shortage was held at the Finance Ministry on Friday, February 11 under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
The meeting focused on providing consumers with textiles and food items without any shortage during the forthcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
It was noted that consumers do not receive any relief despite the tax concessions given by the Government for some essential food items. Some unscrupulous traders were selling goods bought under Government concessions at exorbitant prices. Attention was also focused on further transparency in the mechanism of proper delivery of imported essential commodities to consumers. Although there is a shortage of milk powder, gas, wheat flour and cement in the local market, there are sufficient stocks of all other essential items and there will be no shortage.
During the meeting, State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara had drawn the attention of Minister Rajapaksa regarding the issue that the same product is being sold at various prices from district to district. Jayasekara had said that consumers have been greatly inconvenienced, adding that an immediate solution should be found.
State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna told the Committee meeting that the “Mandatory display of prices” law is not being implemented in the country, at present, and that there were instances where some traders decide on the prices of goods. Responding to this, Finance Minister Rajapaksa had said that instead of displaying the full price list in all three languages, a mechanism should be devised to display only the essential commodity prices.
The Minister said that it is more practical for the Consumer Affairs Authority to implement a program to present a report on essential commodities in every district on a daily basis. This would help in identifying the disparities in the distribution of imported goods, he said.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed officials to take immediate steps to release containers with essential items held up at the Customs. The President had taken this decision to prevent any shortages in the market. The President has appointed a committee headed by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to ensure that there is no shortage of essential commodities including food.
A special discussion was held at the Presidential Secretariat recently with regard to the release of essential goods held up at the Customs. President Rajapaksa stressed the importance of providing the people an opportunity to purchase essential items including food without any shortage during the forthcoming festive season and instructed officials to make plans promptly. He also stressed the need to allow the import of selected essential commodities and not to allow over-importing and stockpiling of goods with malicious intent.
The President also instructed officials to prepare a mechanism to expedite the release of essential commodities including food to the market and directed the new committee to regulate and oversee the matter.