Sri Lanka hikes power prices by 66% in a bid to gain IMF support

Sri Lanka raised electricity prices by 66% on Thursday, in a move the government hopes will persuade the International Monetary Fund to provide a bailout for its crisis stricken economy.

The increase, announced by Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, comes after the government raised electricity prices by 75 percent last year, and adds to the pain of Sri Lankans already struggling with inflation above 54% year-on-year in January and income taxes as high as 36% percent.

“We know that this will be hard on the public, especially the poor, but Sri Lanka is caught in a financial crisis and we have no choice but to move towards cost reflective pricing,” Wijesekera told reporters.