Impossible to fix one price for a decade or more - Lasantha

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lankan Government on Friday (5) accepted that it is not possible to control prices by imposing laws and gazettes, that are bound forever.

Speaking for the first time since the government decided to lift the control prices on a number of essential items, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, the State Minister of Co-operative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection said in a country where the constitution was amended 20 times, it is not possible to maintain one price for a certain item for 10 to 15 years.

'Though the gazettes were rescinded, traders cannot impose arbitrary prices on those goods," he said while adding that the cement shortage will also be addressed within a fortnight.