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Dispute with state banks: CPC wants to buy dollars from commercial banks
View(s):The Petroleum Resources Development Ministry will submit a Cabinet paper seeking permission to buy dollars required for fuel transactions from any bank so that it need not pay additional commissions to state banks. Ministry Secretary Upali Marasinghe confirmed that approval would be sought to call for bids from any commercial banks for dollar purchases.
The move follows a dispute with the state banks which have so far been providing the required US dollars for fuel purchases. A senior Ceylon Petroleum Corporation official said they had made the proposal to the Ministry after revelations that an additional surcharge was being imposed by the state banks as they were not able to supply the required dollars directly. Instead, they were buying dollars from commercial banks and selling them to the CPC.
If the new system was approved, the CPC would be able to call for bids from 26 banks and carry out transactions in the most beneficial manner, he said.
The CPC’s average transactions per day amount to US$ 6 million.