In my opinion, the cost of living is way too high in Sri Lanka compared to other developing nations. Inflation is something that we cannot stop.
I think that it would be great if the government could offer at least the basic commodities at affordable prices. Rural areas are badly stricken with poverty and people suffer without basic necessities.
I think that home gardening, cycling and creating more awareness at an early stage, starting as a part of the school curriculum could help the younger generation be better prepared to face problems caused by high living costs.
During the last few months, the inflationary levels have stepped up, causing untold hardship to Sri Lankan citizens. The worst affected are lower and middle income earners.
The increase in fuel prices not only affects our daily transport costs but also has an indirect impact on some of the daily consumables we purchase as the burden is passed down to the customer. When the world’s fuel prices fell, the government did not pass down the benefit to the people. The heavy burden is expected to increase within the next three months with the cabinet of ministers approving a new pricing formula.
Further, the price increase in liquid petroleum gas has resulted in the increase in the price of food items. The direct and indirect taxes imposed on consumer goods have had an adverse impact on people.
The politicians of this country who are at the helm of the administration are enjoying all the benefits at the expense of the Sri Lankan people who voted them into power. There is total mismanagement. Bribery and corruption are still rampant with the plundering of the country’s resources.
The question is whether the policymakers and key holders of public office will join hands to implement a long-term plan to curb the high costs of living and to control the drop in the Sri Lankan rupee. Otherwise, the various social and religious groups should exercise pressure on the current administration to implement relief measures to the people.
The long-term remedy for inflation in a country is economic development. There is a need for policies in terms of goods and services, and it is necessary to orient economic policies towards infrastructure development. It is also vital to maintain a peaceful environment and industrial peace in the country.
The use of this policy in the development of large foreign businesses operating in Sri Lanka as factories, worksites or stores should not be considered development. Occupational or income generating opportunities for foreign businesses can only be allowed to the extent that our economy can handle. As soon as they remove those business opportunities from the Sri Lankan territory, the economy begins to collapse.
As such, it is necessary to build a production economy gradually from rural levels using local resources. And focusing on new economic strategies is the most appropriate strategy for facing competition. There, where the integration of knowledge-based economies towards the productive economy will be more consistent, it will be more appropriate for a Sri Lankan development economic model that can manage inflation.
There will be no progress in economic development by visiting the leaders of a country. The increased prices of goods can be avoided only if we increase the investment in the country.
The skyrocketing cost of living is a point to ponder and is bait from a political angle. This recurring issue that there is an ulterior motive of rising prices is somehow fed to the voter base. The ploy of misleading the public with false unrealistic solutions and the widening of social inequalities are some valid reasons for the ruling parties to be happy in such a scenario.
Flooding the local retail market with too many imported and cheap goods is a waste of the country’s foreign remittances. Promoting the production of quality local goods (a few have been made already) can save the country’s foreign reserves, reducing the expenditure on imports.
Since 1952, the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) measures inflation of the same basket of goods. Much has changed since then. The CCPI does not capture these, creating a misleading picture. As for inflation, the country should know its stance.
Taxing at the wrong point is a weak method that makes the cost of living rise.
What is the procedure and approach of the government with tax evaders? The government is willing to protect many of these big evaders and the corruption taking place in organisations at all levels where a bribe can sweep tax information under the carpet. There are big businesses that adjust financial statements to prevent them from hitting the tax threshold. All these unethical practices are formalised by the government.
The toll is passed to essential food items. This is where the tax is imposed and collected. The dwindling nutritional levels and rising malnourishment indicators are daunting. Once, the prices of certain medicines were slashed. But these are not making a significant improvement. Most of the time, the discounts are short lived.
A rise in fuel prices suddenly changes the relief scenario through an increase in the cost of transportation. The ‘cost of living’ mantra is such that a hike of Rs. 20 per litre of fuel usually triggers a snowball effect with traders pushing prices twofold or threefold.
When fuel prices fell, no one passed that that benefit to the consumer. Electricity prices are high due to corruption and total mismanagement. This is a huge factor in pricing commodities.
We see huge billboards saying ‘no to corruption’ put up by TV stations. They conduct programmes to apparently alleviate poverty. When their big boys make deals with politicians is when the country becomes poor. For the most part, stolen money is spent outside the country. First, we have to carry out a campaign to stop giving and taking bribes.
We have to know that nothing in this world is free. Someone has to pay for what some others get free. All the strikes must be driving the cost of living up to a certain extent. In this day and age, most people are connected.
The only reason to continue with the ‘Z-score’ is political. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – which has singlehandedly brought down the quality of universities and the quality of graduates produced by our universities – must also know that they have contributed immensely to the increased cost of living (graduates get free education, free uniforms, free medical, free books etc.. After graduation they get on the road asking for a free job, assisted by the JVP). How can we have well-managed services?
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is another bane. The Z-score has again produced some really illogical doctors. They have no self-confidence. They do not like competition. They mistakenly believe that they are the smartest people on Earth who know everything so they do what they know best. Strike when free ambulances are bought, when they cannot get the school they want for their child, when they need a duty free permit. Has anyone calculated what a strike like this costs the country?
In addition to all of this, we have to pay for the cream on every single project from which money has been siphoned to foreign countries. So what do we do? At least start by electing decent people with a reasonable education to parliament?
The point is that the government should be able to have in place the tactics to control and regulate how prices behave. The price levels are sure to go upwards. There is no doubt about it. But people should be able to place confidence in government authorities and look for their support to have price levels not go out of control. Therefore, the government can work on this with proper mechanisms in place.
This is a continuous affair – an ongoing responsibility to be extended for the country’s citizens. Yet this responsibility is overlooked. Price controls and consumer rights are all for the namesake.
On many occasions, we have heard about maximum prices imposed by the government on essential products. But how many vendors at the retail level are violating them? How many of these violators have been caught by government authorities? At the end of the day, the government’s decision of reduced prices is not enforced. The heartless middle parties and intermediaries seize a sizeable margin.
Consumer exploitation happens at the highest level. The government needs to improve their safety net foremost. Authorities should play a role at large by strengthening their monitoring and follow up mechanisms, especially giving much weight to protect consumer rights.
The additional burden to bear the cost of mismanagement on top of living is customary for Sri Lankans. The cost of living, to a large extent, is made by the corrupt rulers in power, allowing it to build up throughout decades.
The rise in the price of fuel is a common phenomenon. This directly pushes up the prices of gas and fuel, indirectly pushing up the cost of transport, prices of food at eateries and bakery products, and electricity that form many elements of cost of living. Well, the prices have to be revised upwards, according to the affirmation of sources.
There are plenty of misdemeanours. Once, it was due to a hedging deal that paved the way for an exchange rate loss. Part of the loss had to be cushioned by increasing fuel prices. Then there was some corruption in the government’s Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and millions were left to accumulate – owed by other governments – to propel the loss.
In spite of the fact that global oil prices are on a downward trend, fuel and gas prices have witnessed an upward revision and will continue to do so in the future. The story is that in Sri Lanka, a good excuse will always come to the rescue of the government and not to the rescue of public.
In Sri Lanka, ‘cost of living’ is a very famous slogan during election time. Many political leaders have given many promises regarding the cost of living. In the past, we, as people of this country, were taken on a ride by these politicians. After they gain power, they forget or intentionally ignore the promises that they made.
It is important to analyse the causes of this issue. There are many factors.
I think the most common factor is the corruption in our country. Recently, we witnessed many bribery incidents in Sri Lanka. It is a must that we strengthen the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in order to combat bribery and corruption in Sri Lanka.
Another factor is the waste of resources. In government offices, it is revealed that from electricity to stationery, things are used in a wasteful manner. Some of our people are lethargic so they won’t help add strength to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
I am of the view that government officials should stop the spending of unwanted expenses and strictly limit it. I am of the view that we must strictly limit borrowing loans from other countries and institutes.
We must increase our imports. If we want to increase our imports then we must increase our production. In order to increase said production, we must have a positive will, as well as political will. We have to stop blaming others and try to do even little things that will help reduce the cost of living for our people.
The cost of living is one that is never bound to decrease but continue increasing around the globe. This is why inflation is always there and we never get to hear about and benefit from deflation.
What lies behind the cost of living is of more importance than the numbers can say. The ever increasing cost of living obviously indicates a burden on our expenses, the quantity we can consume and also the quality of living. At the end of the day, it is associated with the status of our living standards.
The increasing cost of living is common to all economies. The difference between poor and rich nations is that at least some essential items such as food and fuel for transport are at affordable levels, facilitating a better threshold in terms of living standards for the public. Hence, a basic necessity such as some food items in a rich country may sound like a luxury for a citizen in a poor country.
To elaborate further, in rich nations, transportation costs – such as those associated with trains – may not be cheap but they are provided with good service. It is the real value that matters. The government has to play a meaningful role in intervention to not let the cost of living go haywire.
In my opinion, the cost of living is way too high in Sri Lanka compared to other developing nations. Inflation is something that we cannot stop.
I think that it would be great if the government could offer at least the basic commodities at affordable prices. Rural areas are badly stricken with poverty and people suffer without basic necessities.
I think that home gardening, cycling and creating more awareness at an early stage, starting as a part of the school curriculum could help the younger generation be better prepared to face problems caused by high living costs.
During the last few months, the inflationary levels have stepped up, causing untold hardship to Sri Lankan citizens. The worst affected are lower and middle income earners.
The increase in fuel prices not only affects our daily transport costs but also has an indirect impact on some of the daily consumables we purchase as the burden is passed down to the customer. When the world’s fuel prices fell, the government did not pass down the benefit to the people. The heavy burden is expected to increase within the next three months with the cabinet of ministers approving a new pricing formula.
Further, the price increase in liquid petroleum gas has resulted in the increase in the price of food items. The direct and indirect taxes imposed on consumer goods have had an adverse impact on people.
The politicians of this country who are at the helm of the administration are enjoying all the benefits at the expense of the Sri Lankan people who voted them into power. There is total mismanagement. Bribery and corruption are still rampant with the plundering of the country’s resources.
The question is whether the policymakers and key holders of public office will join hands to implement a long-term plan to curb the high costs of living and to control the drop in the Sri Lankan rupee. Otherwise, the various social and religious groups should exercise pressure on the current administration to implement relief measures to the people.
The long-term remedy for inflation in a country is economic development. There is a need for policies in terms of goods and services, and it is necessary to orient economic policies towards infrastructure development. It is also vital to maintain a peaceful environment and industrial peace in the country.
The use of this policy in the development of large foreign businesses operating in Sri Lanka as factories, worksites or stores should not be considered development. Occupational or income generating opportunities for foreign businesses can only be allowed to the extent that our economy can handle. As soon as they remove those business opportunities from the Sri Lankan territory, the economy begins to collapse.
As such, it is necessary to build a production economy gradually from rural levels using local resources. And focusing on new economic strategies is the most appropriate strategy for facing competition. There, where the integration of knowledge-based economies towards the productive economy will be more consistent, it will be more appropriate for a Sri Lankan development economic model that can manage inflation.
There will be no progress in economic development by visiting the leaders of a country. The increased prices of goods can be avoided only if we increase the investment in the country.
A never ending snag, a beggar’s wound.
The skyrocketing cost of living is a point to ponder and is bait from a political angle. This recurring issue that there is an ulterior motive of rising prices is somehow fed to the voter base. The ploy of misleading the public with false unrealistic solutions and the widening of social inequalities are some valid reasons for the ruling parties to be happy in such a scenario.
Flooding the local retail market with too many imported and cheap goods is a waste of the country’s foreign remittances. Promoting the production of quality local goods (a few have been made already) can save the country’s foreign reserves, reducing the expenditure on imports.
Since 1952, the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) measures inflation of the same basket of goods. Much has changed since then. The CCPI does not capture these, creating a misleading picture. As for inflation, the country should know its stance.
Taxing at the wrong point is a weak method that makes the cost of living rise.
What is the procedure and approach of the government with tax evaders? The government is willing to protect many of these big evaders and the corruption taking place in organisations at all levels where a bribe can sweep tax information under the carpet. There are big businesses that adjust financial statements to prevent them from hitting the tax threshold. All these unethical practices are formalised by the government.
The toll is passed to essential food items. This is where the tax is imposed and collected. The dwindling nutritional levels and rising malnourishment indicators are daunting. Once, the prices of certain medicines were slashed. But these are not making a significant improvement. Most of the time, the discounts are short lived.
A rise in fuel prices suddenly changes the relief scenario through an increase in the cost of transportation. The ‘cost of living’ mantra is such that a hike of Rs. 20 per litre of fuel usually triggers a snowball effect with traders pushing prices twofold or threefold.
When fuel prices fell, no one passed that that benefit to the consumer. Electricity prices are high due to corruption and total mismanagement. This is a huge factor in pricing commodities.
We see huge billboards saying ‘no to corruption’ put up by TV stations. They conduct programmes to apparently alleviate poverty. When their big boys make deals with politicians is when the country becomes poor. For the most part, stolen money is spent outside the country. First, we have to carry out a campaign to stop giving and taking bribes.
We have to know that nothing in this world is free. Someone has to pay for what some others get free. All the strikes must be driving the cost of living up to a certain extent. In this day and age, most people are connected.
The only reason to continue with the ‘Z-score’ is political. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – which has singlehandedly brought down the quality of universities and the quality of graduates produced by our universities – must also know that they have contributed immensely to the increased cost of living (graduates get free education, free uniforms, free medical, free books etc.. After graduation they get on the road asking for a free job, assisted by the JVP). How can we have well-managed services?
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is another bane. The Z-score has again produced some really illogical doctors. They have no self-confidence. They do not like competition. They mistakenly believe that they are the smartest people on Earth who know everything so they do what they know best. Strike when free ambulances are bought, when they cannot get the school they want for their child, when they need a duty free permit. Has anyone calculated what a strike like this costs the country?
In addition to all of this, we have to pay for the cream on every single project from which money has been siphoned to foreign countries. So what do we do? At least start by electing decent people with a reasonable education to parliament?
The point is that the government should be able to have in place the tactics to control and regulate how prices behave. The price levels are sure to go upwards. There is no doubt about it. But people should be able to place confidence in government authorities and look for their support to have price levels not go out of control. Therefore, the government can work on this with proper mechanisms in place.
This is a continuous affair – an ongoing responsibility to be extended for the country’s citizens. Yet this responsibility is overlooked. Price controls and consumer rights are all for the namesake.
On many occasions, we have heard about maximum prices imposed by the government on essential products. But how many vendors at the retail level are violating them? How many of these violators have been caught by government authorities? At the end of the day, the government’s decision of reduced prices is not enforced. The heartless middle parties and intermediaries seize a sizeable margin.
Consumer exploitation happens at the highest level. The government needs to improve their safety net foremost. Authorities should play a role at large by strengthening their monitoring and follow up mechanisms, especially giving much weight to protect consumer rights.
The additional burden to bear the cost of mismanagement on top of living is customary for Sri Lankans. The cost of living, to a large extent, is made by the corrupt rulers in power, allowing it to build up throughout decades.
The rise in the price of fuel is a common phenomenon. This directly pushes up the prices of gas and fuel, indirectly pushing up the cost of transport, prices of food at eateries and bakery products, and electricity that form many elements of cost of living. Well, the prices have to be revised upwards, according to the affirmation of sources.
There are plenty of misdemeanours. Once, it was due to a hedging deal that paved the way for an exchange rate loss. Part of the loss had to be cushioned by increasing fuel prices. Then there was some corruption in the government’s Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and millions were left to accumulate – owed by other governments – to propel the loss.
In spite of the fact that global oil prices are on a downward trend, fuel and gas prices have witnessed an upward revision and will continue to do so in the future. The story is that in Sri Lanka, a good excuse will always come to the rescue of the government and not to the rescue of public.
In Sri Lanka, ‘cost of living’ is a very famous slogan during election time. Many political leaders have given many promises regarding the cost of living. In the past, we, as people of this country, were taken on a ride by these politicians. After they gain power, they forget or intentionally ignore the promises that they made.
It is important to analyse the causes of this issue. There are many factors.
I think the most common factor is the corruption in our country. Recently, we witnessed many bribery incidents in Sri Lanka. It is a must that we strengthen the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in order to combat bribery and corruption in Sri Lanka.
Another factor is the waste of resources. In government offices, it is revealed that from electricity to stationery, things are used in a wasteful manner. Some of our people are lethargic so they won’t help add strength to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
I am of the view that government officials should stop the spending of unwanted expenses and strictly limit it. I am of the view that we must strictly limit borrowing loans from other countries and institutes.
We must increase our imports. If we want to increase our imports then we must increase our production. In order to increase said production, we must have a positive will, as well as political will. We have to stop blaming others and try to do even little things that will help reduce the cost of living for our people.
The cost of living is one that is never bound to decrease but continue increasing around the globe. This is why inflation is always there and we never get to hear about and benefit from deflation.
What lies behind the cost of living is of more importance than the numbers can say. The ever increasing cost of living obviously indicates a burden on our expenses, the quantity we can consume and also the quality of living. At the end of the day, it is associated with the status of our living standards.
The increasing cost of living is common to all economies. The difference between poor and rich nations is that at least some essential items such as food and fuel for transport are at affordable levels, facilitating a better threshold in terms of living standards for the public. Hence, a basic necessity such as some food items in a rich country may sound like a luxury for a citizen in a poor country.
To elaborate further, in rich nations, transportation costs – such as those associated with trains – may not be cheap but they are provided with good service. It is the real value that matters. The government has to play a meaningful role in intervention to not let the cost of living go haywire.