Kanchana Wijesekera said fuel stocks were enough to last less than a day under current demand, and petrol and diesel were limited to essential services such as healthcare and public transport in order to list remaining supplies for a few more days and ensure the country is not completely closed. Sales of fuel to private vehicles have been banned for at least the next week, but there were still kilometer-long queues of vehicles outside petrol stations across the country. The fuel crisis is affecting almost every aspect of life in Sri Lanka, preventing people from being able to go to work and school. On Sunday, school closures in Colombo and other major cities were extended for another week as teachers and students were unable to travel to classes. Power outages of up to 14 hours have been imposed to conserve fuel. Another shipment of diesel is expected at the weekend and gasoline is expected in two weeks, but Wijesekera admitted that Sri Lanka did not have the money to pay for the shipments. It will total about $587 million and the country only has $125 million in the bank. The government already owes about $800 million to several fuel suppliers as its foreign currency reserves have been depleted and it has been barred from borrowing more money from international markets. He has been negotiating with Russia to try to get some cheap fuel. Sri Lanka has been facing fuel shortages for months as it grapples with an economic crisis that has left it unable to import essential items such as food and medicine. In June, the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, told parliament that “our economy has completely collapsed” and the UN said the country was facing a dire humanitarian crisis. Inflation has reached 54%, leaving many households unable to buy basic items, especially as most food items have more than doubled in price. Sri Lanka has been seen as one of South Asia’s fastest-growing nations, with a rapidly emerging, well-educated middle class, but many fear that decades of progress will be undone by this crisis. The economic woes stem from a decades-long trade deficit and a culture of heavy foreign borrowing, which have left Sri Lanka with $51 billion in debt that it cannot afford to repay. Since 2019, wrong decisions by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government have seen government revenue drop by more than 1 trillion rupiah, and the island of 22 million people has been hit hard financially by the impact of Covid on tourism. The country is facing bankruptcy after being forced to default on several billion dollars to repay foreign loans. It is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about a $3 billion bailout and help restructuring its loans, but officials said a program could take months to agree. Countries such as India, China and the US have provided emergency financial aid in recent weeks.
