Crisis-hit Sri Lanka almost out of fuel
STORY: In the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, schools have closed their doors and public employees been asked to work from home.
The island nation, home to 22 million people, is battling its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
Foreign exchange reserves are at an historic low, and the country is struggling to pay for essential imports of food, medicine and most critically, fuel.
At gas stations, troops are handing out tokens to those waiting in rapidly growing queues.
49-year-old motorist K. Shamugarajan is one of those who has received a token that is meant to hold his place in the line for when fuel becomes available.
“I have been here since midnight on Friday (June 24). When we got here, they had stopped pumping petrol. I don’t know whether I will get petrol or not. For the moment, they've given me a token. Although I got a token, I don’t know if I will receive petrol, or if they are trying to fool us. The money I had to pump petrol is now gone. Somebody has gone away and says he will bring me some money. Only when he returns, can I pump petrol.”
But with no fresh shipments due, it is not immediately clear how far the government can stretch its fuel reserves.
On Sunday (June 27), the government announced the country was down to just 15,000 tons of petrol and diesel to keep essential services running in the coming days.
Despite vast queues at gas stations, public transport, power generation, and medical services will get priority in fuel distribution.
Ports and airports will also receive some rations.
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has warned the situation may get worse.
“I believe that until the financial situation is managed, we will have to face various challenges. Sometimes we might be able to do away with petrol queues completely, sometimes there will be occasions where we cannot stop the queues. I believe that we cannot obtain $550-600 million dollars in the coming months. We will definitely have to reduce our consumption to $350 million dollars.”
A team from the International Monetary Fund is visiting Sri Lanka to hold talks on a $3-billion bailout package.
Although the Indian Ocean nation is hoping to reach a staff-level agreement before the visit ends on Thursday (June 30), that is unlikely to unlock any immediate funds.
