Govt. must be upfront with public

Governments around the world are taking measures to soften the blow of oil price spikes as the Iran war continues to raise concerns about prolonged supply chain disruptions. Countries such the Philippines and Vietnam have taken measures to reduce fuel usage with the former reducing the work week to four days while the latter asking employees to encourage work from home methods. Bangladesh and Pakistan too have encouraged distance learning or universities and schools for now.

Denmark was the latest to join the call for less fuel consumption with the country’s Energy Minister urging citizens of the Scandinavian country to cut back on energy use and ditch cars as the price of oil continues to skyrocket amid the Middle East conflict.

Denmark’s Climate, Energy, and Utilities Minister Lars Aagaard said that the ongoing war between the US and Iran has driven the country to lean on its oil reserves in light of “towering oil prices” with no end to the conflict in sight. “What the Danes should please, please, please do is that if there is any energy consumption that you can do without, if it is not strictly necessary to drive the car, then don’t do it,” he said in an interview with local broadcaster DR.

In Sri Lanka, the Government is keen to be seen in control and hence is doing its best to reassure people that all is well at least for the next two months where oil supplies are concerned. 

It has so far rejected going back to the fuel quota (QR) system that was introduced by the previous Government when the country was recovering from the economic crisis of 2022. The system worked well and helped ease the excessive fuel usage till the system normalised. However, for the current Government, going back to the same system maybe a comedown of sorts and hence the reluctance to embrace a system they were very critical of.

On Thursday, oil prices climbed to above $ 100 a barrel after three more cargo vessels were hit in the Gulf. This despite the International Energy Agency (IEA) saying on Wednesday that it will release a record 400 million barrels of oil in an attempt to curb the economic impact of the US-Israel war with Iran. Oil was trading at around US $ 60 on February 23, a day after the attacks on Iran took place but since then have been rising steadily. Major oil producing countries such as Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have cut total oil production by at least 10 million barrels per day given the instability in these countries due to the ongoing conflict.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Thursday that it had received a positive response from India to the request made by Sri Lanka to secure fuel supplies if the ongoing tensions in the Middle East continue.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath had discussed the matter during an official meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his visit to India on 6 March and there had been a positive response to the request and that necessary action is already being taken regarding this, it was announced.

There is no clarity on how along the ongoing conflict  will go on and it’s likely that oil prices will continue to rise hence Sri Lanka too will have to pay more for fuel where ever it comes from.

The Government needs to act prudently at a time like this. It’s better to keep the public aware of the hardships they may have to face in the weeks and months ahead without taking a complacent attitude. If the 2022 economic crisis has taught us anything, it is to be honest with the public rather than keeping them in the dark until things are totally out of control.