Sri Lanka Runs Out of Fuel, Says it Faces Difficult Summer
May 17, 2022 13:31:06 GMT -5
Post by schwartzie on May 17, 2022 13:31:06 GMT -5
Sri Lanka Runs Out of Fuel, Says it Faces ‘Most Difficult’ Summer
GABRIELLE REYES
16 May 202271
3:48
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced on Monday that his nation had “run out” of petroleum-based fuel during a national address in which he predicted that the next two months will be “the most difficult ones of our lives,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“We have run out of petrol. … At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day,” Wickremesinghe said on May 16.
The prime minister revealed his government had likewise run out of foreign currency reserves needed to pay for three oil shipments on vessels docked outside Colombo’s harbor on Monday and “14 essential medicines,” as paraphrased by Reuters.
“The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives,” Wickremesinghe told his fellow countrymen. “I have no desire to hide the truth and to lie to the public.”
The leader further acknowledged during his May 16 address that Sri Lanka’s federal government had run out of cash to pay its 1.4 million civil servants their salaries for the month of May and beyond.
“Against my own wishes, I am compelled to permit printing money in order to pay state-sector employees and to pay for essential goods and services,” the prime minister stated.
Wickremesinghe announced a number of economic reforms on Monday aimed at reducing the country’s financial losses, including plans to sell off the national airline carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, and significantly raise fuel and electricity tariffs.
Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry said on April 12 that it had approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout from its worst-ever financial crisis, which began causing fuel, medicine, and food shortages in early March.
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GABRIELLE REYES
16 May 202271
3:48
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced on Monday that his nation had “run out” of petroleum-based fuel during a national address in which he predicted that the next two months will be “the most difficult ones of our lives,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“We have run out of petrol. … At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day,” Wickremesinghe said on May 16.
The prime minister revealed his government had likewise run out of foreign currency reserves needed to pay for three oil shipments on vessels docked outside Colombo’s harbor on Monday and “14 essential medicines,” as paraphrased by Reuters.
“The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives,” Wickremesinghe told his fellow countrymen. “I have no desire to hide the truth and to lie to the public.”
The leader further acknowledged during his May 16 address that Sri Lanka’s federal government had run out of cash to pay its 1.4 million civil servants their salaries for the month of May and beyond.
“Against my own wishes, I am compelled to permit printing money in order to pay state-sector employees and to pay for essential goods and services,” the prime minister stated.
Wickremesinghe announced a number of economic reforms on Monday aimed at reducing the country’s financial losses, including plans to sell off the national airline carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, and significantly raise fuel and electricity tariffs.
Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry said on April 12 that it had approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout from its worst-ever financial crisis, which began causing fuel, medicine, and food shortages in early March.
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