Business

Rising food prices are Sri Lankans’ biggest worry

Published

4 years ago

2022/08/25

By Sanath Nanayakkare

A middle class mother walked into a grocery shop in Mattegoda yesterday with her two school-going children and asked for two chocolate flavoured milk packets, one packet of Tipi Tip, a medium sized canned fish and 500g of dhal and paid Rs. 1,559 for the damage without batting an eyelid. It was evident that she was too aware of the latest World Bank assessment which places Sri Lanka at No.5 among countries hardest hit by food price inflation.

As her kids start drinking the milk, she looked around with grave concern and anxiously said,” Will these increasing food prices ever drop? In our country, prices go up but never come down.”

Renuka Samantha Kumara and his wife Nilanthi Kuruppu – the owners of the retail outlet replied, “We can’t give you a straight answer on when food prices will come down, but prices have to come down soon because customers aren’t able to pay high grocery bills and traders also can’t pay suppliers’ eye-popping bill amounts. Customers see stars when they are told how much their bill comes to, and we’re shocked when our suppliers hand us the invoice for stock replenishments. So both consumers and traders are equally left wondering when the prices are going to come down.”

Later the family traders speaking to The Island said, “In our view, food prices have to go down by 40-50% in the near term for low and middle income households if they are to survive. Our customers fall into these two categories and they have no savings to dip into. What they do is cut down, cut down and cut down on their purchases. Our customers from low-income households have almost disappeared. Employees of the State sector and permanent employees of the private sector still have some capacity to buy at least part of what they used to buy before the high inflation hit. Some of them have told us that they can’t do anything else with their money but pay for food and monthly utility bills. Sad to say that daily wage earners who get only 2-3 days of work per week don’t show up to buy anything. We don’t know what they are eating.”

“Today we bought eggs at the price of Rs. 52 each and sell at Rs. 54 with a Rs. 2 margin, so we have to sell 52 eggs to earn the profit to take home two eggs for consumption without losing the capital we invested on eggs. These days customers avoid eggs like the plague because of its all-time high price, so we don’t know how long it will take to sell 52 eggs. Prices of fresh vegetables, fruits and discretional items such as biscuits, ice-cream, soap, toothpaste have hit through the roof and out of reach of the customers. Both consumers and shopkeepers are trading down because of unbearable price points. If there’s another wave of food price hikes due to increased fuel prices, rupee depreciation, supply chain disruptions, or some policy decision on the Pettah Market, consumers won’t be able to patronize our shop at all, and that will deal a great blow to our business. The government says that it will provide relief to low-income earners at the forthcoming budget to cushion against such vulnerabilities. That will be fine as an immediate option, but it will only be a stopgap to the problem. We believe that the real ‘social safety net ‘needs to come through private sector investments, a boom in infrastructure spending and a growing economy that works better for everybody from top to bottom. The government should give the vulnerable sections a fishing rod and not a fish,” they said.

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Business

ADB approves $100 million loan to boost skills development and jobs for youth in Sri Lanka

Published

15 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million results-based loan to help Sri Lanka transform its technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system, equip more young people with industry-relevant skills, and strengthen the country’s competitiveness and inclusive growth.

The Skills Development System Transformation Program will support the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts in improving the quality and relevance of skills training, strengthening links between training providers and industries, and expanding employment opportunities for youth. The program will increase women’s employment opportunities in nontraditional jobs in fields including automotive technology, engineering, information and communications technology, construction, and renewable energy.

“A skilled workforce is essential to Sri Lanka’s long-term economic transformation and competitiveness,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Shannon Cowlin. “This program will help create stronger pathways from education to employment by making training more responsive to industry needs, expanding opportunities for young people and women, and ensuring that graduates have the skills required by a modern and evolving economy.”

Though Sri Lanka’s economy is recovering, it faces skills shortages in priority sectors, high youth unemployment, and low female labor force participation. Many employers report difficulty finding workers with the skills needed in a changing economy.

Aligned with the Government of Sri Lanka’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Strategic Framework 2026–2035, the nationwide program will be implemented from 2027 to 2031 and is expected to directly benefit more than 100,000 young people through improved access to quality, employment-oriented training.

Business

USD 40.84m pipeline to secure aviation fuel supplies to BIA

Published

16 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

The government has cleared a USD 40.84 million and Rs. 8,548.75 million contract to build a dedicated aviation fuel pipeline from Muthurajawela to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), alongside a massive new fuel storage facility with a capacity of 92,000 cubic metres.

Energy Minister Anura Karunatilaka said the project represented a major investment in strengthening the infrastructure underpinning Sri Lanka’s aviation fuel supply and ensuring more reliable fuel availability at the country’s main international airport.

‘This project will provide the infrastructure required to strengthen the reliability and continuity of aviation fuel supplies to Bandaranaike International Airport, Karunatilaka said.

The contract has been awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited, following an international competitive procurement process in which three bids were received.

The project will see a new aviation fuel storage tank complex constructed at Muthurajawela, together with the associated infrastructure required for handling and transferring aviation fuel.

Business

CSE activity up, turnover weak at Rs. 1.4 billion

Published

16 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H Senewiratne

Trading activity on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gathered pace yesterday as global fuel prices began to show signs of easing, according to market analysts.In this context, both indices moved upwards. All Share Price Index up by 67.97 points while S and P SL20 up by 8.30 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.4 billion with seven crossings. Those crossings were reported in Sampath Bank 1.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 238 million and its share price traded at Rs 140, Access Engineering two million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 159 million and its share price traded at Rs 79.50, LOLC one million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 129 million and its share price traded at Rs 129, HNB 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 38.4 million and its share price traded at Rs 384, JKH 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 35 million and its share price traded at Rs 18.60, Hayleys 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22.50 million and its share price traded at Rs 225 and Richard Pieris 847,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22 million and its share price traded at Rs 25.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that have mainly contributed to the turnover were Sampath Bank Rs 114 million (813,000 shares traded), JKH Rs 100 million (5.3 million shares traded) LB Finance Rs 49 million (325,000 shares traded), HNB Finance Rs 30 million (27 million shares traded), HNB Rs 27 million (70000 shares traded), NTB Rs 25 million (82000 shares traded ) and Lanka IOC Rs 21 million (666,000 shares traded). During the day 65 million shares volumes changed hands in 10433 transactions.

The Banking and manufacturing sector counters performed well. In the banking sector Sampath Bank let the market while manufacturing sector especially JKH also significantly performed well. With the fuel revision Land IOC also a significant stock at the floor.

Meanwhile, First Capital Treasuries said that Ramesh Schaffter resigned as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October 1, to facilitate the restructuring of the company’s board.

Yesterday the Central Bank announced the US Dollar rate as against rupee. The rupee was quoted flat at Rs 330.65/80 to the US dollar in the spot market , while bond yields dropped, dealers said.