Sunday Times E-Paper

Is there a way out for people caught in price tsunami?

The Government forewarned it was coming, and on this rare occasion kept its word as well, hitting the people right in the stomach with unprecedented price hikes on essential food items and consumer goods. And now, the public is told, there's more to come. Removing price controls had to be done because traders were running rings round the authorities. From rice to milk foods, the Government lost the battle to rein them in. The Consumer Affairs Authority that is expected to protect the consumer is a powerless bystander. The poorer segments of the country are left to their own devices for survival. Corruption is rampant at every level and ghouls in state institutions are feeding on the misery of the poor.

Prices of cooking gas have doubled and the combo of price increases coming in a flood has impacted strongly on fixed salaried employees in the public sector, those in the private sector who have had their salaries cut by half and those in sectors that have taken the brunt of the pandemic like the hospitality and automobile industry workers and the small enterprises with no income being generated.

That is not all. Inept Government agricultural policy has compounded issues both for the farmer and the consumer alike. The drop in harvests of fruit and vegetables is evident already and paddy farmers are walking out in protest from "Kanna Rasweem", the agricultural meetings held prior to the release of irrigation waters for cultivation because of the fertiliser ban. They ask if all the farmers and a vast majority of soil scientists and agriculturists are raving lunatics and only the ruling politicians are in their right minds to slap an immediate ban on the use of chemical fertiliser.

The Government has been forced to reverse some of these knee-jerk decisions. It has agreed to allow fertiliser imports for the tea industry. The import of low quality organic fertiliser has resulted in a spat between Chinese and Sri Lankan authorities. While the blame game continues, the domestic food supply system is teetering on the edge of a breakdown.

The next attraction, coming soon to a shed near you is the petrol, diesel and kerosene price hike. World prices have also shot up. There's a sudden surge in energy requirements in Europe with lockdowns easing, shooting oil prices upward. Greater demand for coal is disrupting plans for a greener world. The Government is looking all over the world for easy payment terms to purchase the next shipment of oil.

Once these prices increase, local food prices will go still higher. In the midst of this emergency situation all kinds of questionable 'deals' seem to be taking place with the least amount of transparency. It is anything but an easy payment loan being negotiated by the Petroleum Corporation ( CPC) with an American lending agency for a massive USD 2.5 billion loan at 3 percent interest over 12 years with the 'facilitating agent' getting a whopping 7 percent commission. The annual interest payable is in the hundreds of millions of dollars (See page 1 of today's Business Times section).

Meanwhile, local eateries are complaining that the recent price increases of bread and flour based products are insufficient to meet costs. That is when one is reminded of the local idiom translated to the man who fell from the tree getting gored by the bull.

There will be socioeconomic knock-on effects from all these price hikes. Bribery and crime rates rising will be the order of the day -- and the night. Surely, the Government, which claims it has the confidence of the people already buffeted by the pandemic, will need to ensure a secure safety net for the poorer folks if they are not to be driven to the brink. Instead, it seems a; 'Everyman for himself and God for all" policy that is in place.

OPINION

en-lk

2021-10-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sundaytimes.pressreader.com/article/281840056858322

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