"Price of wheat flour cannot be increased without prior consent" - Minister of Finance

COLOMBO (News 1st):- Taking to Twitter, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has in a tweet addressed consumer concerns on the fluctuation of wheat flour prices in the market. He claimed that the prices of wheat flour cannot be increased without prior consent of the Cost of Living and Consumer Affairs Authority while firmly adding that any vendor selling wheat flour above the stipulated price will be dealt with severely.  

The price of flour cannot be increased without the consent of the Cabinet appointed Cost-of-Living Committee and the Consumer Affairs Authority. As usual fake news factory Derana is spreading lies. Any vendor selling above the mandated price will be dealt with severely.

— Mangala Samaraweera (@MangalaLK) November 15, 2019

President of the Bakery Owners Association of Sri Lanka N.K. Jayawardene noted that Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Limited has assured that there will be no increase in wheat flour prices. N.K. Jayawardene added that this could be an attempt to inconvenience the general public. Commenting on this issue State Minister Buddhika Pathirana dismissed reports that read flour prices will be increased. State Minister Buddhika Pathirana adding that these are baseless reports, pledged that wheat flour prices will not be increased. He went onto note that vendors who sell wheat flour above the mandated price will be strictly dealt with in accordance with the law. Meanwhile, a statement for the Consumer Affairs Authority noted that increasing the wheat flour prices is against the law. The CAA added that it is an act of violation of the law.