Plans afoot to set maximum price for variety of goods: Minister

• Rs. 100 water bottle can be sold less than Rs. 40   
• Packet of salt is sold at Rs. 100 whereas wholesale price is Rs.52  

By Ajith Siriwardana   

The Consumer Affairs Council of the Consumer Affairs  Authority (CAA) is taking steps to set maximum prices for a large number of goods in the market, Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative  Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said yesterday.   
He told the media that consumers had to face a heavy burden in the market due to discrepancies in the pricing of goods.   
The Minister said various goods even water bottles have  been priced exorbitantly where a water bottle is sold at Rs. 100 whereas  it could be sold less than Rs. 40.   
“The wholesale price of a packet of salt is Rs. 52 and it  is sold at Rs. 100. Consumers have to undergo extra burden in the  market. Consumer Affairs Council of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA)  is taking steps to set maximum prices for a large variety of goods. You  will know the list of goods shortly,” he said.   
Responding to a question, the Minister said various  importers had imported rice for the last few days that three out of  seventy-five containers had contained rice unfit for human consumption  and that they were ordered to re-export the three containers.   
Responding to another question, he said the use of rice for  beer production has no impact on rice shortage in the country as only  20,000 metric tonnes of total annual paddy harvest of 2.9 million metric  tonnes are used for beer production while the annual rice consumption  is 2.4 million metric tonnes.