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Sri Lanka's power regulator said on Tuesday it had approved a 75 per cent hike in power tariffs.
"The Commission decided to approve a fair electricity tariff, taking all these public and other stakeholder comments into consideration," Janaka Ratanayke, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, said in a statement.
Sri Lanka faces a "great danger" with fuel shortages sparked by its unprecedented economic crisis set to continue at least till the year's end, President Ranil Wickremesinghe warned on August 3.
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The 73-year-old, who was propelled to power last month after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country and resign after months of protests, said the financial meltdown had turned into a serious political crisis.
Tens of thousands of people overran Rajapaksa's official residence last month over acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines endured by Sri Lanka's 22 million people since late last year.
Sri Lanka was considered a prosperous middle-income country before defaulting for the first time on its foreign debt of $51 billion in mid-April.
The country has run out of foreign exchange to finance imports with officials estimating the country urgently needs at least $4 billion to bring in essential goods and address current shortages.
Motorists spend days waiting to buy rationed fuel while the country faces lengthy electricity blackouts. Inflation has crossed 60 per cent.
