Sri Lanka suffers further fuel delays with no view of new shipments arriving

June 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Sri Lankan Minister of Energy, Kanchana Wijesekara, explained this Saturday that the fuel suppliers have communicated the impossibility of fulfilling the deliveries.

“I am sorry to report that CPC (Ceylon Petroleum Corporation) has informed me that suppliers who had confirmed shipments of Gasoline, Diesel and Crude Oil earlier this week and next week have communicated the inability to meet deliveries on time due to banking reasons. and logistics”, explained the minister on his Twitter account.

The Energy portfolio has indicated that, at the time the next shipments are unloaded, limited stocks will be distributed to certain gas stations.

Wijesekara has added that he has not been able to confirm the arrival dates of the shipments.

“At the moment CPC cannot confirm the arrival dates of the shipments with the new developments. The refinery operations will be temporarily closed. We are working with all suppliers (…). I apologize for the delay and inconvenience” , has posted on the social network.

However, CPC union sources assured that fuel shipments are not expected in the short term, despite the ministry’s guarantees, the ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper reported.

The country’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said this week that Sri Lanka’s economy has “collapsed” after months of food, fuel and electricity shortages.

“Now we are facing a much more serious situation beyond the mere shortage of fuel, gas, electricity and food. Our economy has completely collapsed. That is the most serious problem before us today,” said the political leader. .

Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, the most serious in its history since independence, has resulted in protests across the island in recent months seeking the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family members from the government. The clan has been blamed for making decisions that have led to dire shortages of everything from fuel to medicine, inflation approaching 40%, daily blackouts of up to 13 hours, and a historic debt default.

The nation will need some $6 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund and countries like India and China to get by over the next six months, according to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Local authorities are seeking to accelerate rescue talks with the IMF to obtain other new sources of financing.