Sri Lanka tides over fuel and energy crisis
View(s):The government will be able to import fuel stocks for at least two or three months under a plan worked out by the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank (CB), official sources said.
The CB directive to all banks to share payments for fuel and the Indian US$500 million-Line of Credit to Sri Lanka for urgent fuel imports would ease the power crisis, a senior Treasury official said.
While normally two state banks open LCs for fuel, now other banks will also be given this task considering the present emergency needs.
Discussions are being held with the Indian Oil Corporation to bring down fuel under of the Indian credit line, he said.
This money is sufficient to import fuel needed for one and half months, he said addingthat allowing the banks and the CB’s intervention to meet the fuel bill will help in managing the dollar issue for at least six weeks.
Meanwhile Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said there were two tankers anchored at sea with a total of 76,000 MT of diesel and one of them with 37,000 MT had been cleared. He noted that around 10,000 MT had been handed over to Ceylon Electricity Board and it is sufficient to continue power generation of thermal power plants for at least eight days.
After clearing the second shipment of 39,000 MT the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation would be able to supply fuel for another eight days, he said adding that there won’t be a fuel shortage for at least the next 16 days.
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