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Price hikes on scores of items; CoL soars
View(s):Thursday’s Budget has been followed by Gazette notifications, increasing the prices of a variety of consumer items such as sugar, canned fish, sprats and Maldive fish with immediate effect. The price hike ranged from Rs. 27 to Rs. 2.
Consumers will have to pay Rs. 27 more for a kilo of Maldive fish, Rs. 3 more for a kilo of sugar Rs. 16 more for a kilo of sprats, Rs. 27 more for a kilo of dried fish, Rs. 2 more for a kilo of chickpeas and a kilo of green gram (mung), and Rs. 5 more for a fresh orange and Rs. 10 more for a litre of vegetable oil.
Imported food items such as cheese, sausages, pasta, cereals, soups, butter, margarine and yoghurt will also cost more.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his Budget speech said the increased tax on imported food items was intended to encourage local producers.
The prices of household items and building material will also be increased. Among them are steel products, aluminium products and cement. An export cess has been imposed on pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamoms. Exporters said the new cess would eat into their profits because of the intensive competitiveness in global markets. All increased cess rates are immediately effective.