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Energy Minister Sri Lanka Kanchana Wijesekera said the oil cargo that matured last week did not appear while those who were scheduled to arrive next week also would not reach Sri Lanka for reasons of “banking” reasons
A man waited in a three -wheeled vehicle near the line to buy gasoline from the fuel station, in the middle of the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 23. (Picture: reuters)
Sri Lanka almost ran out of gas and diesel after some shipping that was expected to be delayed indefinitely, the Minister of Energy said on June 25 while apologizing to the driver for the worsening fuel crisis. Kanchana Wijesekera said the oil cargo that matured last week did not appear while those scheduled for next week would not reach Sri Lanka for the reason “banking”.
Sri Lanka faces serious foreign exchange deficiencies even to finance the most important imports, including food, fuel and medicines and is interesting for international administration. Wijesekera said Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) managed by the government could not say when the supply of fresh oil would be on the island.
BPK also closed one refinery due to lack of crude oil, he added. The refineries began operating earlier this month using 90,000 tons of Russian crude oil purchased through coral energy based in Dubai on a two -month credit requirement.
Wijesekera said he regretted that the delivery of “gasoline, diesel and shipping of crude oil matured this week and next week” will not be fulfilled “on time for banking and logistics reasons”. The remaining rare inventory in the country will be distributed through some of some of the pumping stations, he said.
Public transportation and power plants will be given priority, Wijesekera added, urged motorists not to queue for fuel. “I apologize for this delay and inconvenience,” said the minister when hundreds of thousands of motorists spent hours waiting for gasoline and diesel in all poor countries.
Last week, the government closed unimportant state institutions together with schools for two weeks to reduce the trip due to the energy crisis. Some hospitals throughout the country reported a sharp decline in the presence of medical staff due to lack of fuel.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned parliament on June 22 that South Asian countries with a population of 22 million people would continue to face difficulties for several more months and urge people to use fuel frugally. “Our economy has faced a total collapse. We now face a far more serious situation beyond lack of fuel, gas, electricity, and food,” Wickremesinghe said.
Unable to pay foreign debt worth $ 51 billion, the government stated that it failed to pay in April and was negotiating with International Monetary Funds (IMF) for the possibility of a bailout.
