An employer at a gas station scratches his head when he was asked whether he thought prices should come down further. World oil prices have almost reached the US$ 50 per barrel mark from a high of US$ 147 earlier in the year. Consumers feel domestic oil prices do not reflect the reduction in world prices. However, the CPC made massive losses due to subsidized rates, even though domestic prices where increased, when world prices were at their peak and now seeks to recover those losses. The public’s overdependence on subisidies and ill targeted subsidy programmes are the results of measures adopted for short term political mileage and cannot sustain long term development. (Pic by Dimuthu Premarathne)