Sri Lankan President announces economic relief package amid rising living costs

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake arrived in Parliament today (April 7) and presented the government’s economic relief package.

The President said several sectors in the country have been affected by the current global situation and that the government had focused its attention on those issues.

He said special attention had been given to fuel and energy, noting that adjusting fuel prices in line with actual costs would affect people’s daily lives. The President also said the market price of a litre of diesel has now exceeded Rs. 600.

“We will reintroduce the fuel cost-based pricing formula on May 1, 2026, or on a date close to that. The cost-based price will be calculated using the actual data from the previous month. At the next fuel price revision, we will calculate the actual price and provide a subsidy of up to Rs. 100 per litre of diesel.

For a litre of petrol, we will provide a subsidy of up to Rs. 20. We have calculated that this will cost Rs. 20 billion per month, or Rs. 2,000 crore. We have prepared this proposal for three months. These subsidies should be provided to the targeted public,” he said.

However, the President also said that, due to the lack of proper data, it had been decided to align the prices of super diesel and super petrol with market prices.

Accordingly, the government has decided to bear a cost of Rs. 100 per litre of diesel, and the President said this would cost the government Rs. 60 billion over three months.

Aswesuma subsidy

An additional special allowance will be granted for April 2026 to low-income groups registered under the Aswesuma programme, regardless of the number of members in a family:

• Rs. 7,500 for a family in the extremely poor category.
• Rs. 5,000 for a family in the poor category.
• Rs. 2,500 for a family in the transitional category.

Electricity subsidy

Rs. 15 billion has been allocated to provide relief to consumers using less than 90 units of electricity.

Instead of passing the additional cost of electricity generation on to consumers, the government will bear the extra expense for three months.

This additional cost has arisen due to rising fuel prices and the use of thermal power plants during the current dry weather conditions. The relief will apply to electricity consumers using less than 90 units.

Fertilizer subsidy

The fertilizer subsidy of Rs. 25,000 per hectare will be increased to Rs. 30,000 for the Yala season.

The fertilizer subsidy for additional crops, which was Rs. 15,000 per hectare, will be increased to Rs. 18,000 for the Yala season.

Farmers will also be able to obtain a 50 kg bag of urea fertilizer for the Yala season at a fixed price of Rs. 10,200 through Agrarian Service Centres.

Fisheries subsidy

For one-day fishing vessels, a subsidy of Rs. 50 per litre of fuel will be provided for up to 25 litres per day, for a maximum of 25 days per month, over a period of three months.

For multi-day fishing vessels engaged in the fishing industry, a one-time allowance of Rs. 150,000 will be provided during the next three months.

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