Sri Lanka Stops Fuel Sales for Non-essential Vehicles for Two Weeks

In Sri Lanka, only trains, buses, and vehicles used for medical purposes and food transportation will be allowed to fuel up for the next two weeks. 

The suspension of fuel sales comes as Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic catastrophe in decades. 

Schools have closed and the working class has been instructed to work from home, affecting Sri Lanka’s 22 million population. 

Currently, Sri Lanka’s government is discussing a bailout deal as it grapples with paying for imports like food and fuel. 

Sri Lanka currently lacks the foreign currency to afford imports of essential goods, after its economy is still recovering from the pandemic and the rising energy prices. 

Shortages of medicines, food, and fuel are pushing the cost of living in Sri Lanka to record high levels. 

To secure cheap supplies of oil, government officials have been sent to leading energy producers Qatar and Russia. 

Bandula Gunewardena, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Spokesperson has said that the country “never faced such a severe economic crisis in its history”.” 

Government officials have stated that Sri Lanka only had 9,000 tonnes of diesel and 6,000 tonnes of petrol for the incoming days. 

If the fuel limit was not put in place, it is expected that the country’s reserves would only last for less than a week. 

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that “We are doing everything we can to get new stocks, but we don’t know when that will be,”

Back in May, for the first time in its history, Sri Lanka defaulted on its debts with foreign lenders. This followed suit after weeks of protests against Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pressuring him to resign.

The International Monetary Fund send a delegation to Sri Lanka last week to discuss a $3 billion bailout agreement.