Colombo: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday endorsed a proposal by state-owned fuel importer and distributor Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to lower the price of kerosene, after a January cutback.

The President's Media Division (PMD) announced that the price reduction will come into effect from March 1 midnight.

The price of a liter of kerosene oil has been cut by 50 rupees (0.14 U.S. dollar) to 305 rupees.

The price of a liter of industrial kerosene oil has fallen by 134 rupees to 330 rupees, the PMD said.

Kerosene had been highly subsidized in the South Asian country until 2022 when subsidies were removed due to the domestic economic crisis.

In August 2022, the CPC increased the kerosene price to 340 rupees per liter from 87 rupees, and to 365 rupees in November 2022.

The price was cut down to 355 rupees in January 2023.

Kerosene is mainly used by the estate sector and fisheries communities. (1 U.S. dollar equals 362.84 Sri Lankan rupees).