| Much ado about nothing; ignorable relief |
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| Penny reduced from budget allocations for President |
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(Lanka-e-News, December 30, 2008, 11.55 PM) The cabinet decided to reduce petrol price by two rupees since midnight today (30). The government announced that the trishaws would be issued petrol Rs. 20 less than the normal price but no date for the implementation was fixed.
The concession for the trishaws is four liters maximum per day and 75 liters maximum per month. The concession is not more than Rs. 1500 and there are a number of prerequisites. Petrol will be sold at concessionary prices for a coupon in accordance with an agreement with the trishaw owners and all trishaws need to be fixed with meters before that.
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The price per a liter of diesel, kerosene and furnace oil will be reduced by Rs. 10 since midnight today (30). The price of a 12.5 Kg cylinder of LAUGFS gas will be reduced by Rs. 276 and the price of a Shell gas cylinder will be reduced by Rs. 166.
The government has focused attention to reduce bus fare by 4%. The fuel surcharge of 15% for the industries and tourism will be waived since 2009.
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The cabinet has decided to slash the fines for the loans companies have obtained for factories. The legal actions against the defected industrial sector borrowers will also be terminated.
All government expenses and the expenditure of the MPs have been reduced by 5%. The expenses of the Ministers have been sliced by 10% and the President’s expenses have been cut by 15%. The house rent allowance of the Ministers has been reduced by 50%.
A 5% allowance will be granted to the industries in relation to the foreign currency they bring in. The government says that it has focused to bring the production level of tea, rubber, garment and cinnamon industries to the height prevailed in 2005.
The Tea Export Board will plan to maintain the price per a kilo of tea at Rs. 300 and the purchasing price of a raw tender tea leaves will be at Rs. 45 a kilo. The cess tax for the imported teas will remain. A new cess of 2% will be introduced when the price of a kilo of tea rises to the level of Rs. 300. A 50 Kg bag of fertilizer will be provided with the tea sector until the price of a kilo of raw tea will be raised to Rs. 45.
The cabinet has further decided to mark a registered price per a kilo of rubber at Rs. 150. A 5% cess will also be introduced for rubber. Discussions will be held with the Export Development Board to maintain a certified price for cinnamon. Further discussions will be held with Russia and Iran to uplift the cinnamon industry. |
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| by -Sisira C. Vithana |
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