• Claims IMF officials’ comments about electricity pricing undermines regulator

Claiming that repeated remarks by certain International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives on how electricity tariffs should be set are an insult to the independent regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the Electricity Consumers' Association (ECA) stated that it would formally notify the IMF headquarters about this in writing.

During a virtual media briefing, IMF's Sri Lanka Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou said recently that Sri Lanka should restore cost-recovery electricity pricing as soon as possible to minimise fiscal risk, and that it was essential to complete the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, ECA General Secretary, Sanjeewa Dhammika charged that the statements made by the IMF representatives regarding electricity tariffs threaten Sri Lanka’s energy sovereignty. He also said that such remarks amount to an insult to both the utility regulator – the PUCSL and the country.

"The Government spends millions in public funds to maintain the PUCSL as the regulator of the power sector. It is the PUCSL that is legally mandated to decide how electricity tariffs should be set. But if tariffs are to be determined based on IMF requirements, what is the purpose of maintaining the PUCSL? Just because the Government has entered into an agreement with the IMF, it does not mean the country’s laws have changed. We will be notifying the IMF headquarters of this concern in writing in the coming days," he added.

During the said briefing, Papageorgiou said that final Executive Board approval of the staff-level agreement would depend on Sri Lanka implementing key prior actions – including restoring cost-reflective electricity pricing and confirming multilateral financing contributions and debt restructuring progress. If these conditions are met and the review is approved, Sri Lanka is to receive approximately US dollar ($) 344 million in the next tranche of IMF support, bringing the total disbursed so far to around $ 1.72 billion.

When contacted by The Daily Morning on an earlier occasion, PUCSL Director of Corporate Communications, Jayanat Herat, said that a cost-reflective electricity tariff system was already in place, as required by the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 20 of 2009. He noted that a methodology had been developed to ensure tariffs cover operational costs, and added that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had at times recorded significant profits, including Rs. 120 billion in 2024 and Rs. 3 billion in January 2025, indicating that current tariffs reflect costs.