Fuel pumps in Sri Lanka may go dry by April-end; India's $500 million credit line exhausting

Colombo, April 8: Sri Lanka is likely to run out of diesel by April-end amid the ongoing economic crisis. The $500 million line of credit extended by India for fuel purchase is also exhausting fast amid unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves. India had in February extended a $500 million credit line to Sri Lanka to fund the country's fuel purchases, as the island nation struggled to overcome its worst financial and energy crisis in decades. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948. Also read | Chandigarh MC House passes resolution that Chandigarh remains UT People have been protesting for weeks over lengthy power cuts and shortage of gas, food and other basic goods. Officials said fuel shipments to Sri Lanka started coming in late March due to the urgency of the situation although they were scheduled to start from April 1. Three more Indian shipments are due on April 15, 18 and 23 and the facility would be fully exhausted by then unless the Sri Lankan government sought for a further extension from India, they said. Diesel is widely used for public transport and thermal power generation in Sri Lanka. Due to lack of diesel, some thermal power plants have been shut, leading to power cuts lasting over 10 hours daily. The country's only refinery had to be shut down twice in November 2021, since it was unable to pay for imports amid economic crisis. Enraged people got into the streets for endless agitations against the government, calling for its resignation for the incompetence. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has warned President Rajapaksa about the shortage of even the most essential medicines in the island nation due to the forex related economic crisis. The SLMA says medicine, equipment and reagents are in short supply in the health sector. Also read | RBI keeps repo, reverse repo rates unchanged for 11th time in row Garment export industry association, Sri Lanka Joint Apparel Association Forum, has also written to Rajapaksa urging short-term solutions to the current crisis. -PTC News with agency inputs