Costs are rising substantially for both individuals and companies following the latest fuel price hike, according to two polls conducted by the Business Times (BT) and Colombo-based Research Consultancy Bureau (RCB).
Respondents were asked how the fuel price hike would affect them as individuals and/or companies and, in most cases their response was that costs would rise by more than 20 %.
Wages and product costs were also seen rising, according to the results of the two polls.
The BT poll was conducted on email with some 400 respondents sending in their views and comments, while the RCB poll was conducted (separately) in a suburban Colombo town amongst over 300 traders/shops categorized for the sake of the poll as 'roadside SMEs."
The two results are given in two graphs - BT poll on Page 1 and the RCB poll on this page.
Additional comments were also received which are given below:
 BT poll
- The question one needs to ask is what measures have been taken by the Government to curtail consumption of fuel by politicians and their lackeys using super luxury vehicles with escort vehicles and also by air - all with public funds.
- In the 1970s/80s duty refunds were given by the Treasury to garment exporters on duty paid for imports. There were fraudulent claims around Rs 3000 million paid out by the Treasury! This led to the scrapping of this scheme and the introduction of the Bank Guarantee scheme for import duties of garment exporters and cancellation on proof of exports.Similar was the VAT Refund Fraud! The Treasury gave monies forrefunds! A similar fate awaits the proposed refunds for fuel subsidies.
- This price revision is essential to ensure that subsidies arecarefully targeted to the poor. Owners of high powered vehicles with diesel engines industrial users of kerosene should not benefit from fuel subsidies.
- The sudden increase in Diesel would obviously have an impact on most households and many organisations as well. It probably had to be done but an overnight 30% hike can be huge.
- It is the fixed wage/salary earners who will be affected badly astheir incomes will not rise in the short term. So would the poor, their children and the elderly who will also be badly affected.
- The best the government can do to help these groups is to lowerinflation by improving its fiscal and monetary discipline as well as extending meaningful relief to these groups.
- The Government must improve the competitiveness of the country's exports, the prices of which also will increase, by helping to improve productivity, differentiation and value addition to customers, to enable firms to enhance earnings since that is the major avenue for economic growth.
- The government must improve the investment climate to attract investments to create employment opportunities in order to increase income levels; the worry is that it is regressing instead of improving.
- Not much has also been done to develop renewable sources of energy other than hydro. For this purpose owners of large buildings should be encouraged to install solar panels, windmills on their buildings to develop their own sources of energy (as well as rain water collection tanks)
RCB Poll comments:
- To give a subsidy only to the transport-related sector is unfair.
- Stop fuel concessions to politicians.
- Remove fare hike for common transport services.
- Minimize profits made by fuel merchants and give that relief to the masses.
- Expedite research work on the claimed oil resources to get oil from such resources.
- State taxes like VAT should be abolished.
- The state should be ready to face up to oil shortages by having large scale oil reserves.
- Politicians and big businessmen should use public transport.
- Oil should be subject to a fixed rate.
- Pay transport charges incurred by all types of workers.
- MPs and governing politicians enjoy while the common man suffers. Shame!
- The government is frying the people in oil.
- No ruler ever did what is done by today's government.
- Bigwigs are globe tottering with the suffering masses bearing all these expenses.
- These are hedging losses forced on the people because they know the people are donkeys.
- This is a way out to make up losses incurred via wasteful extravaganza.
- The Government messed up the A level exam and now messing up on the oil issue.
- Oil prices didn't go up because of the world market. Rather it was the Government waiting for the right opportunity to drown the people in oil.
- The Government should cut unnecessary and wasteful expenditure on tamasas like the Deyata Kirula and use this money to offset rising oil prices.
- This is a snare to demolish the small time businessman.
- If the Government goes on like this it will get fried in the same oil.
- If this happened in another country, the Government would have got thrown out.
- There is no opposition to represent the people.
- Gassed by the state.
- These price increases are to cover losses by Government institutions.
- In some countries there is no development. Here speedy development is matched by equally, speedy price increases of essential goods.
|
E-mail
