Sri Lanka’s president says he has urged his Russian counterpart to help his cash-strapped island nation import fuel as it faces its worst economic crisis in decades. Lacking foreign exchange due to years of economic mismanagement and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Sri Lanka is struggling to import essential items, leading to severe shortages of medicine, food and fuel. “We had a very productive teleconference with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tweeted on Wednesday. “While I thank him for all the support his government has provided to overcome past challenges, I have requested an offer of credit support to import fuel into #lka to overcome the current economic challenges,” he added. 1/2 He had a very productive conference call with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support his gvt has provided to overcome past challenges, I have requested an offer of credit support to import fuel into #lka to overcome current financial challenges. – Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@otGotabayaR) July 6, 2022 Western countries have largely cut off energy imports from Russia under sanctions over its war in Ukraine. Since the invasion in late February, global oil prices have soared, prompting some countries to seek Russian crude, which is being offered at deep discounts.
Extensive shortages
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has led to dire fuel shortages, forcing the government to close schools and ask all but essential service workers to work from home to reduce consumption of limited supplies. The government earlier said that no entity is willing to supply oil to Sri Lanka even for cash because the oil company owes it a lot of debt. Sri Lanka has already bought oil from Russia to tide it over during the crisis, and the government has said it is willing to make further purchases. “We unanimously agreed that strengthening bilateral relations in areas such as tourism, trade and culture was paramount to strengthening the friendship shared by our two nations,” Rajapaksa said.
Driving tourism
Sri Lanka will also hold roadshows in five Indian cities to attract more visitors from its populous northern neighbor and bring in more foreign currency, its tourism minister said. Known for its rolling hills, pristine beaches and laid-back seaside towns, Sri Lanka has seen a steady flow of 61,951 Indian tourists – the most of any foreign country – in the first five months of this year. “Sri Lanka needs to get revenue from tourism to get out of this crisis. This is necessary,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando told reporters. Fernando said he hoped the country would end the year with about one million tourists, compared with fewer than 200,000 arrivals last year, even though some countries, including the United Kingdom, have issued advisories asking citizens to make only essential trips in Sri Lanka. “We are sure that the winter season will be good,” said Fernando.
