Sri Lanka's retail fuel prices are high because the government has imposed high taxes on petrol and diesel.
Petrol is retailed at 120.0 rupees a litre and diesel at 70.0 rupees, though import prices are low.
According to Central Bank data a price of litre of refined petrol in the Singapore wholesale market was only 55.14 rupees a litre yesterday based on the US dollar at 115.10 rupees and a barrel priced at 76.65 US dollars.
The price of refined diesel in Singapore was 56.29 rupees a litre (78.25 US dollars a barrel) and kerosene 56.61 rupees a litre (78.7 US dollars a barrel).
Usually petrol is the cheapest refined product to import, but Sri Lanka's skewed taxation has under-priced diesel and made the fuel popular, forcing the country to spend more on imports.
Unleaded petr