With no new supplies, Sri Lanka announces day off as fuel runs out

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka, the most dire in its independent history, has seen protests erupt across the island for the past few months seeking the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family members from government.

The clan has been blamed for taking decisions that have led to severe shortages of everything from fuel to medicine, inflation at nearly 40%, daily power outages of as long as 13 hours and a historic debt default.

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The island nation will need about $6 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and countries including India and China, to tide over the next six months, according to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Local authorities are allegedly looking to fast-track bailout talks with the IMF in order to get other fresh sources of funding.

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Sri Lanka’s economy likely contracted in the first quarter, slammed by the public protests, political instability, high commodity prices and supply-chain snarls.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is awaiting official confirmation from India on a new credit line that would allow the cash-strapped nation to have supplies of petrol and diesel for the next four months, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said on Friday.

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The state fuel entity Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said the final shipment of diesel under the existing Indian Line of Credit of USD 700 million for fuel arrived on Thursday.

“We did receive unofficial communication on a new credit line for fuel three to four weeks ago, so far no official confirmation of it being made available,” Wijesekara said.

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He said the anticipated USD 500 million line of credit facility from India would enable the country to have supplies of petrol and diesel for the next four months.