President's relief package for the New Year

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to Parliament today to present the government's latest economic relief package, aiming to free the people of this country, who are severely affected by the current global war situation. The President emphasized that the government's strong attention is especially focused on the fuel and energy sectors, pointing out that changes in fuel costs directly impact people's lives.

He stated that with the market value of a liter of diesel currently exceeding the Rs. 600 mark, a new fuel cost adjustment is scheduled to be made on or around May 1st, based on actual data from the previous month. In this adjustment, the government has decided to provide a subsidy of Rs. 100 per liter for diesel and Rs. 20 per liter for petrol to provide relief to the public, and it is estimated that this will cost Rs. 20 billion (Rs. 2,000 crores) per month. This relief will be available to a targeted community for a period of three months. Due to the lack of proper data, this subsidy will not be available for Super Diesel and Super Petrol, which will be sold at market prices. However, the government will have to bear an amount of Rs. 6,000 crores for three months for the Rs. 100 subsidy provided for regular diesel.

It was also proposed that despite the additional cost incurred due to the need to use thermal power plants for electricity generation because of rising fuel prices and the prevailing dry weather, this burden would be borne by the government for a period of three months instead of being passed on to consumers. Under this, steps have been taken to allocate Rs. 15 billion to provide relief to people who consume less than 90 units of electricity monthly.

Additionally, the President proposed providing a special additional allowance for April 2026 to low-income families registered under the 'Aswesuma' program, regardless of the number of family members. Accordingly, this financial assistance will be Rs. 7,500 for an extremely poor family, Rs. 5,000 for a poor family, and Rs. 2,500 for a transitional family.

The fertilizer subsidy provided for the upcoming Yala season has also been increased with the aim of uplifting agriculture and providing relief to farmers. Under this, the fertilizer subsidy, which was Rs. 25,000 per hectare, will be increased to Rs. 30,000, and the subsidy for additional crops, which was Rs. 15,000, will be increased to Rs. 18,000. Furthermore, arrangements have been made to provide farmers with a 50 kg bag of urea fertilizer at a fixed price of Rs. 10,200 through Agrarian Services Centers for the Yala season.

Considering the difficulties faced by the fishing community, the government has decided to implement a special relief program for them as well. Accordingly, one-day fishing vessels will receive a subsidy of Rs. 50 per liter for 25 liters of fuel per day, for a maximum of 25 days per month, for a period of three months. Concurrently, the government has also proposed providing a one-time special allowance of Rs. 150,000 to multi-day fishing vessel owners within the next three months.