By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) continues to suffer heavy losses as petrol, diesel, and kerosene have been subjected to higher taxes by the Government even after the fuel pricing formula was introduced by the National Economic Council (NEC), CPC UNP Trade Unionists claimed.
Convener of CPC branch of the Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) Ananda Palitha said the fuel price formula should be decided by the CPC not by the Finance Ministry.
The Ministry should decide the tax they should be applied for the petroleum products based on the prices decided by the CPC, he stressed.
A loss of Rs. 82 billion incurred by the CPC by providing fuel for SriLankan Airlines and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was yet to be recovered and the loss of about Rs. 340 billion incurred by supplying fuel subsidy was also yet to be recovered by the treasury, Palitha said.
Therefore, the CPC should be given the right to decide the fuel prices, he added.
According to the Finance Ministry statistics, the CPC has lost Rs. 11.1 billion in the first four months of 2018, against an operating profit Rs. 3.55 billion in 2016.
A collapsing rupee had also generated Rs. 9.1 billion in losses to the CPC compared to Rs. 5.62 billion last year. The CPC accumulated losses of Rs. 218.6 billion and a negative net worth of Rs. 218.6 billion.