25 May, 2008 - Published 12:43 GMT

Bus fares rise by 27 percent

The Sri Lanka government and the private bus owners have agreed to raise the fares by 27.2 percent.

In a meeting held with Transport minister Dallas Alahapperuma and private bus owners association, it has also agreed to raise the minimum bus fare from Tuesday.

The meeting was held after the state-owned oil corporation raised prices for petroleum products by at least twenty-five per cent on Saturday.

A spokesman for the corporation said the move would reduce by half the losses being suffered by the corporation, which has been subsidising the cost of fuel in Sri Lanka.

The price of petrol is now nearly one-and-a-half dollars a litre.
The price rise for diesel was even higher at thirty-five per cent to one dollar a litre.

The fuel price increases follow rises in prices for essential commodities that had already raised the inflation rate in Sri Lanka to more than twenty-five per cent.