Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, April 8: Due to the unprecedented shortage of foreign currency, Sri Lanka may run out of diesel by the end of this month. The USD 500 million line of , given by India for fuel purchase is rapidly depleting.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of its biggest economic crisis since its 1948 independence from the United Kingdom. Notably, people have been protesting for weeks due to prolonged power outages and a lack of gas, food, and other basic necessities.
Almost all Cabinet ministers have resigned, and hundreds of MPs have defected from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government as a result of popular outrage. Fuel shipments to Sri Lanka began in late March due to the urgency of the situation, despite the fact that they were supposed to begin on April 1.
They added that three additional Indian shipments are due on April 15, 18, and 23, and that the facility would be fully utilised by then unless the Sri Lankan government requested an extension from India.
Diesel is widely used in the country for public transportation and thermal power generation. The closure of a few thermal power plants owing to a scarcity of diesel has already resulted in daily power outages of more than 10 hours.
In November 2021, the country’s single refinery had to shut down twice due to a lack of funds to pay for imports. Enraged citizens took to the streets in a never-ending agitation against the government, demanding that it resign due to its incompetence.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has warned President Rajapaksa of a national shortage of even the most basic medicines as a result of the economic crisis.
