The Consumer Affairs Authority said it will seize stocks of hoarded sugar, and distribute it to the public at the maximum retail price.

This is according to the provisions of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act.

The CAA has taken steps to locate stores, warehouses and other places for these stocks of sugar.

The Consumer Affairs Authority sealed a warehouse in Peliyagoda on Tuesday (14) for hoarding sugar and recovered 270 metric tonnes of sugar at the time.

Officers of the Consumer Affairs Authority also raided a store in Grandpass that sold sugar above the MRP. 05 metric tonnes of sugar was recovered from the store.

Legal action was taken against over 300 stores, in the past few days, for selling sugar above the MRP.

A shortage of sugar was reported after Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry decided to increase the special commodity levy imposed per kilogram of imported sugar from 25 cents to Rs. 50.

To prevent a price surge in already-imported sugar stocks, the Finance Ministry decided to impose a maximum retail price.

As per the statement, a kilogram of non-packeted white sugar can be sold at an MRP of Rs. 275, while a kilogram of unpacketed brown sugar can be sold for Rs. 330.