President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has announced plans for 75 new fuel stations run by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), he said at the Sri Lanka Economic & Investment Summit.
He said the government had identified sites, mainly in areas where consumers depend heavily on private fuel distributors. The President accused some private suppliers of limiting distribution despite holding stocks.
Dissanayake said diesel supplies had been secured until December with a subsidy of about Rs. 70 per litre. He said the CPC had earned about Rs. 28 billion in profit and was ready to use part of it to cushion consumers against rising fuel costs.
He questioned whether consumers should bear a price difference of Rs. 132 per litre of diesel between suppliers. For motorists, the gap between state and private pump prices directly affects what they pay.
The President said existing agreements with private suppliers had been referred to the Attorney General. He added that discussions were under way on a mechanism to target fuel subsidies at groups such as farmers and small businesses, as weak data systems make beneficiaries hard to identify.
