Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board loses Rs32bn in 1Q as price hikes stalled
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board has run up losses of 32 billion rupees in the in the first quarter of 2022 amid a drought and a currency collapse, as price hikes are stalled, data shows.
The CEB is charging about 17 rupees for a unit but is spending about 48 rupees for a unit, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said this week.
CEB’s revenues went up 7.5 percent to 64.2 billion rupees, but cost of sales went up 43 percent to 94.7 billion rupees.
The Public Utilities Commission has not allowed a price increase to the utility for around 7 years though the rupee has fallen from around 131 to 375 in that period, forcing the utility to borrow from banks.
CEB’s short term borrowings shot up to 58 billion rupees by March 2022 from 33 billion rupees, from December 2021.
The higher bank borrowings are coming as the Central Bank has raised rates to curb domestic credit and help support the rupee. (Colombo/May18/2022)
