Sri Lankan President instructs officials to maintain adequate stocks of essential items

Colombo [Sri Lanka], June 3 : Amid the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed officials to maintain adequate stocks of all essential food items to prevent a shortage of goods.
Gotabaya pointed out that it could prevent the organized efforts of some businessmen to increase prices by artificially creating a shortage of goods and acting on people's fears, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said a portion of the agricultural products currently being sent to the wholesale market should be made available directly to grocery stores.
The Sri Lankan president said this would reduce the cost of transportation and enable consumers to purchase goods at lower prices and farmers to obtain higher prices.
Rajapaksa also instructed the Consumer Affairs Authority to take legal action against those who take advantage of the prevailing situation and sell goods at unfair prices.
Sri Lanka has seen a rapid increase in food prices in recent months due to lower yields after the country banned the use of chemical fertilizers in April 2021.
The government recently lifted the ban on chemical fertilizer and said it will import fresh fertilizer stocks for the coming farming season.
Sri Lanka is witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis and political crisis. Large-scale protests have been taking place for months, leading to the ouster of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe on Sunday said that five finance committees and 10 oversight committees will be appointed to resolve the economic and political crisis faced by the country.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also relaxed import restrictions on 369 items in March and April this year.
Earlier, those who wanted to import any of the 369 items had to obtain an import licence, and the decision to restrict the import was taken to reduce foreign currency spending on foreign products.