Price of powdered milk falls, but cost of living remains high
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The government has reduced the price of powdered milk: the cost of a 400 gram package has gone from 275 to 260 Sri Lankan rupees (equal to 1.07 euros). The agreement with the main importing houses on the island, including Nestlé Lanka Limited, has been signed by the consumer protection authority.
The minister for trade and market development, Bandula Gunawardena, explains that the decision is intended to address the needs of consumers, and that in order to implement it the government has decided to apply a single unit tax of five rupees to all imported powdered milk.
The lowering of the cost of powdered milk will be followed, by the end of the year, with another cut for tanks of fuel for household use. The government headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa intends in this way to keep its promises on new financial measures, made at the beginning of November. Reductions in the cost of gasoline, public transportation, and water and electricity taxes are still in effect.
In Sri Lanka, monthly income is 3,900 SLR (about 255 euros), and the main beneficiaries of the cuts made by the government are the poorest segment of the population. In any case, adjustments to prices have not yet been large enough to influence household finances in a significant way: from 2007 until today, the cost of powdered milk has risen by 48%, prompting the government to ration sales in order to combat the black market.
"The cost of living," one woman tells AsiaNews, "is still very high. A single income family relies on a salary that cannot meet all daily needs. These reductions [in prices] are just a morsel for us to enjoy for a short time." Another woman, employed in a private company, says that "if the government would cut its high spending on the war [in the north of the country], it could reduce more than just the high cost of powdered milk, and we would be able to buy everything we use on a daily basis at low cost."
While greeting the government's decision favorably, the population is asking that it not be simply the latest electoral ploy. From December 24-31, will be accepted the nomination for central and northwestern provincial councils elections. General elections will take place in 2009. Mothers and many other beneficiaries of the recent reductions in prices appreciate the actions by the government, but also fear that these are concessions handed out in view of the scheduled elections.
.png)
