Zürcher Nachrichten - Sri Lanka suspends fuel sales as economic crisis worsens

EUR -
AED 3.967942
AFN 77.324316
ALL 99.294066
AMD 422.287408
ANG 1.93397
AOA 990.639478
ARS 1159.010017
AUD 1.71413
AWG 1.947249
AZN 1.836578
BAM 1.956668
BBD 2.180568
BDT 131.238242
BGN 1.957494
BHD 0.407188
BIF 3209.824492
BMD 1.080304
BND 1.451244
BOB 7.462312
BRL 6.1236
BSD 1.079979
BTN 92.310967
BWP 14.947634
BYN 3.534268
BYR 21173.966824
BZD 2.169263
CAD 1.547477
CDF 3103.714416
CHF 0.954227
CLF 0.026683
CLP 1023.923577
CNY 7.85403
CNH 7.861154
COP 4499.629996
CRC 542.540775
CUC 1.080304
CUP 28.628067
CVE 110.313956
CZK 24.963354
DJF 192.315348
DKK 7.461144
DOP 68.200267
DZD 144.67225
EGP 54.63391
ERN 16.204566
ETB 142.965047
FJD 2.517703
FKP 0.83802
GBP 0.834508
GEL 2.981617
GGP 0.83802
GHS 16.741815
GIP 0.83802
GMD 77.90337
GNF 9345.931385
GTQ 8.334868
GYD 226.790265
HKD 8.406718
HNL 27.622852
HRK 7.533715
HTG 141.078347
HUF 403.609798
IDR 18096.181455
ILS 3.998477
IMP 0.83802
INR 92.482752
IQD 1413.641819
IRR 45459.082174
ISK 143.913941
JEP 0.83802
JMD 169.081799
JOD 0.76588
JPY 161.174964
KES 139.615046
KGS 93.367656
KHR 4316.070833
KMF 492.954431
KPW 972.280671
KRW 1591.278891
KWD 0.333119
KYD 0.898525
KZT 543.839812
LAK 23379.567816
LBP 96570.53158
LKR 319.081266
LRD 216.018799
LSL 19.809457
LTL 3.189859
LVL 0.653465
LYD 5.204117
MAD 10.402892
MDL 19.421485
MGA 5051.880988
MKD 61.568244
MMK 2267.986314
MNT 3760.25671
MOP 8.657971
MRU 42.943558
MUR 49.285269
MVR 16.680361
MWK 1872.196091
MXN 21.989273
MYR 4.793305
MZN 69.017972
NAD 19.809457
NGN 1659.603081
NIO 39.724769
NOK 11.275472
NPR 148.041765
NZD 1.88167
OMR 0.415902
PAB 1.080304
PEN 3.972097
PGK 4.428474
PHP 61.911735
PKR 302.611908
PLN 4.195843
PYG 8593.611468
QAR 3.932315
RON 4.987798
RSD 117.419998
RUB 91.675564
RWF 1535.109837
SAR 4.050871
SBD 9.182375
SCR 15.557638
SDG 648.746723
SEK 10.76356
SGD 1.451517
SHP 0.84895
SLE 24.603912
SLL 22653.44491
SOS 616.379778
SRD 40.085368
STD 22360.120571
SVC 9.452454
SYP 14045.961696
SZL 19.809457
THB 36.892808
TJS 11.758751
TMT 3.778964
TND 3.35685
TOP 2.60184
TRY 40.957976
TTD 7.325636
TWD 35.904826
TZS 2861.115011
UAH 44.615362
UGX 3947.904336
USD 1.080304
UYU 45.573275
UZS 13956.846588
VES 75.172309
VND 27705.289404
VUV 133.291442
WST 3.0653
XAF 657.272575
XAG 0.032022
XAU 0.000346
XCD 2.924752
XDR 0.813245
XOF 657.272575
XPF 119.331742
YER 265.769471
ZAR 20.12255
ZMK 9724.033513
ZMW 30.290151
ZWL 347.857586
  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    68

    0%

  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    22.42

    -0.09%

  • GSK

    -0.4530

    37.417

    -1.21%

  • AZN

    -0.0200

    72.58

    -0.03%

  • BP

    -0.0850

    33.725

    -0.25%

  • NGG

    0.1200

    65.9

    +0.18%

  • BTI

    -0.6650

    40.435

    -1.64%

  • SCS

    0.0850

    11.405

    +0.75%

  • RELX

    0.0600

    50.73

    +0.12%

  • BCC

    1.0050

    99.915

    +1.01%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    59.65

    -0.97%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1800

    9.87

    -1.82%

  • CMSD

    -0.0400

    22.78

    -0.18%

  • JRI

    -0.0220

    12.958

    -0.17%

  • BCE

    -0.6700

    22.11

    -3.03%

  • VOD

    -0.1350

    9.135

    -1.48%

Sri Lanka suspends fuel sales as economic crisis worsens
Sri Lanka suspends fuel sales as economic crisis worsens / Photo: - - AFP

Sri Lanka suspends fuel sales as economic crisis worsens

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka announced a two-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services starting Monday and called for a partial shutdown as its unprecedented economic crisis deepened.

Text size:

The South Asian nation is facing its worst economic meltdown since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, and has been unable to finance even the imports of essentials since late last year.

As fuel reserves hit rock bottom with supplies barely enough for just one more day, government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana said the sales ban was to save petrol and diesel for emergencies.

He urged the private sector to let employees work from home as public transport ground to a halt.

"From midnight today, no fuel will be sold except for essential services like the health sector, because we want to conserve the little reserves we have," Gunawardana said in a pre-recorded statement.

He apologised to consumers for the shortages: "We regret the inconvenience caused to the people."

-Electricity shock-

The sudden fuel ban came as the loss-making state-run electricity monopoly asked for a massive price increase for its poorest customers.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) lost 65 billion rupees ($185 million) in the first quarter and sought a nearly tenfold price hike for the heavily-subsided smallest power consumers, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) said.

Currently, anyone using less than 30 kilowatts a month pays a flat 54.27 rupees ($0.15), which the CEB sought to raise to 507.65 rupees ($1.44).

"A majority of the domestic consumers will not be able to afford this type of steep increase," PUCSL chairman Janaka Ratnayake told reporters in Colombo.

"Hence we proposed a direct subsidy from the Treasury to keep the increase to less than half of what they have asked."

As part of measures to ease the forex crisis that led to the energy crunch, the CEB will be allowed to charge users who earn foreign currency, such as exporters, in dollars.

The move is aimed at helping the electricity utility collect dollars to finance imports of oil and spare parts it desperately needs, but is unable to secure because of the country's forex crisis.

The country is also facing record high inflation and lengthy power blackouts, all of which have contributed to months of protests -- sometimes violent -- calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.

Last week, all government schools were shut down and state institutions operated with skeleton staff to reduce commuting and preserve oil.

The state sector shutdown was meant to end this week, but it is now being extended till July 10, when Gunawardana promised to restore fuel supplies.

- Broken promise -

On Sunday, the government promised it will implement a token system to ration distribution of limited fuel stocks, but it failed to take off.

There have been long queues outside the few pumping stations which still had supplies.

Sri Lanka is seeking cheap oil from Russia and Qatar.

Earlier this month, the United Nations launched an emergency response to the island's unprecedented economic crisis, feeding thousands of pregnant women who were facing food shortages.

Four out of five people in Sri Lanka have started skipping meals as they cannot afford to eat, the UN has said, warning of a looming "dire humanitarian crisis" with millions in need of aid.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.

H.Roth--NZN