Crisis-hit Lanka just days from running out of fuel
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka expects to run out of fuel in days, prompting the government to close schools in Colombo and order government employees to work from home, while troops handed tokens to people lining up for petrol to keep their places in the queue.
Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis in seven decades, with foreign exchange reserves at a record low and the island of 22 million struggling to pay for essential imports of food, medicine and, most critically, fuel.
Industries like garments, a big dollar earner in the Indian Ocean nation, are left with fuel for only about a week to 10 days. Public transport, power generation and medical services will get priority in fuel distribution, with some rationed to ports and airports.
The government is in talks with the IMF on a possible bailout, but many people can’t wait that long. The navy in the early hours of Monday arrested 54 people off the eastern coast as they tried to leave by boat, a spokesman said, on top of 35 “boat people” held last week.
The government’s fuel stockpile stands at about 9,000 tonnes of diesel and 6,000 tonnes of petrol, the power minister said on Sunday, but no fresh shipments are due.
Lanka IOC, the local unit of Indian Oil Corporation, told Reuters it had 22,000 tonnes of diesel and 7,500 tonnes of petrol, and was expecting another 30,000 tonnes shipment of petrol and diesel combined around July 13.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is sending two government ministers to Russia to negotiate for fuel. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said two ministers were scheduled to leave for Russia on Monday to continue talks that Sri Lanka has been having with Russian authorities to directly purchase fuel, among other related issues.