Excerpt from an article on Roar

Price Controls: Who Will Pay For The Canned Fish And Dhal?

“But as Gunasiri attends to his next customer, a thought weighs heavy on his mind— he has just made a loss of Rs. 60 on that sale. And by the time he exhausts his stock of dhal alone, he would have made a loss of a few thousand rupees. A princely sum, considering the circumstances.”

“It is commendable that the government has taken steps towards easing the burden on the poor, especially during a time like this. But, controlled prices can also lead to shortages, as producers lose incentive and ability to stock these products. In addition, when imposed with no prior warning, price controls force smaller businesses to take losses, which can sometimes be inequitable. Despite the good intentions behind this decision, it has the potential to make the situation worse,” Aneetha Warusawitarana, Research Manager, Advocata Institute told Roar Media. 

Read full article here.