Price control on 15 essential items: Ravi K

Minister of Social Services and Welfare P. Harrison, Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen addressing the media – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

By Himal Kotelawala

Price control is to be introduced to 15 essential items, along with a more efficient and streamlined process of importing and distributing wholesale goods, in an effort to curb the rising cost of living, Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday. 

Flanked by Trade Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and Social Services and Welfare Minister P. Harrison, Minister Karunanayake told journalists that a crooked few were attempting to rob the innocent consumer by way of black-marketeering. 

Dahl, sprats, chickpeas, spices and possibly dry fish will be among the 15 items to be gazetted within the next two days, the ministers said.  

“It is crazy that in an agriculture-oriented country, we are unable to maintain a stabilised price. Countries like Singapore and Dubai that don’t produce a single kilo of vegetable have been maintaining prices for the last 15 years on a continuous basis,” he said.

Pointing out the absurdity of prices of items that VAT had not been imposed on going up, Karunanayake insinuated that the problem was with the supply chains, adding that the Government had come up with what he called a concrete proposal to “conquer the black-marketeering being done by a handful of extremists that are trying to torpedo the benefits that can accrue to the innocent consumer.”

Following discussions held with wholesalers, the Cost of Living Committee chaired by Minister Malik Samarawickrama has proposed to regularly notify the public of wholesale prices and educate them on the difference between that and retail prices through mass media.

The concept of maximum retail price (MRP) will also be introduced and, as such, printing the maximum price of some items will be made mandatory.

“The maximum retail price is something that’s working very successfully in India and many other advanced states,” said Karunanayake. 

The Consumer Affairs Authority already requires all registered outlets to display the shelf price.

“We’ll be imposing it on the item itself,” said the Finance Minister, adding that, this way, importers of cheap items will not be able to sell their products at the price of better quality goods.

Starting today, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has been instructed to conduct raids all over the island in order to ensure that retail outlets adhere to these guidelines.

“The CAA will conduct effective raids to ensure that such unscrupulous, barbaric acts are not carried out,” said Karunanayake.

Through these raids, the CAA will check if the outlets are VAT and NBT registered.

The Government is keen on assisting everyone operating within legal bounds, the Finance Minister said, adding that anyone operating above the law would be “hounded out”.

A gazette notification in this regard detailing the essential items and their new prices is expected to be issued either today or tomorrow. This will be complementary to the 21 items already identified as being essential in a gazette notification issued in early 2015.