A sucker punch

Wednesday 22nd December, 2021

There seems to be no end in sight to the crippling blows people are suffering at the hands of those who came to power, promising them prosperity and splendor among other things. The latest round of fuel price hikes is sure to give another turbo boost to inflation, which has already travelled through the stratosphere. Prices of all essential goods and services are bound to rise further. Taxi operators lost no time in raising their fares disproportionately. Private bus owners are also demanding a fare hike. Truckers, bakers, school vehicle operators and retailers will also make the most of the fuel price increases to fleece the public. The worst is yet to come, though.

Government propagandists have insulted the intelligence of the public. They claim that in jacking up oil prices the Finance Ministry has acted on a Central Bank (CB) request to that effect in a bid to curtail fuel consumption. When petroleum prices were increased earlier, the SLPP said Basil Rajapaksa would not have allowed that to happen if he had been in the country at the time. They inveighed against Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila for making the government unpopular by increasing fuel prices. Basil is now the Finance Minister, and the SLPP backers cannot claim that he was not aware of the latest fuel price hikes; the government propaganda hirelings, therefore, claim that the Finance Ministry has only complied with a CB request. Do they think the Finance Ministry would not have increased fuel prices without a nudge from the CB? They are trying to dupe the public into believing that the tail is capable of wagging the dog!

The government claims that the oil price increases will lead to a decrease in fuel consumption during the current foreign currency crunch. So, this is how it has sought to avert a fuel shortage.

Government pundits seem to think that the people indulge in wasting fuel by driving and riding around for the fun of it, and the latter must be stopped from doing so. Even before the latest round of oil price hikes, the people used their vehicles sparingly owing to unbearable fuel and maintenance costs. Most of them were without any alternative but to use their own vehicles in view of the pandemic; they did not want to expose themselves to Covid-19 by travelling in crowded buses and trains. Driving is fun only for political brats who move about in flashy vehicles bought with their parents’ ill-gotten money. They have all the luck. It is hoped that the government will not resort to price increases to overcome shortages of other essential goods as well.

National Organiser of the All Ceylon Agrarian Federation Namal Karunaratne has warned that a drastic decrease in the Maha season paddy yield due to the prevailing fertiliser shortage will cause the price of a kilo of rice to rise above Rs. 500 soon. Will the government, instead of taking steps to meet the shortfall in the supply of rice, allow its price to go through the roof in a bid to prevent a shortage of the staple.

Now that the ruling party propagandists have claimed that the government does as the CB says in making vital decisions, the CB will be remiss in its duties not to tell the ruling coalition to remove the impediments to economic development by eliminating bribery and corruption, curtailing waste, improving the country’s ease-of-doing business Index ranking, cancelling disastrous deals such as the New Fortress agreement, and appointing capable persons of integrity to key positions in the public sector.