Sri Lanka Down To Last Day Of Petrol, New Prime Minister Tells Crisis-hit Country

Sri Lanka¡¯s newly appointed prime minister has said that the cash-strapped island nation has run out of petrol stock, as he said the country desperately needed to secure $75m in foreign exchange in the next few days to pay for essential imports, including medicine.

"At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day. The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives," he said. "We must prepare ourselves to make some sacrifices and face the challenges of this period."

Reuters

Two shipments of petrol and two shipments of diesel using an Indian credit line could provide relief in the next few days, he added -- but the country is also facing a shortage of 14 essential medicines.

The crisis

Sri Lanka currently faces a budget deficit of $6.8 billion (2.4 trillion Sri Lankan rupees), or 13% of their GDP.

In response to the crisis, Wickremesignhe said the country will print more money and propose to privatize Sri Lanka's flagship airline to keep the economy afloat -- though he conceded that inflation may worsen in the short term.

The crisis led to widespread protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family, culminating in the resignation of his elder brother Mahinda as prime minister last week after fighting between government supporters and protesters killed nine people and wounded 300.

AFP

In his address on Thursday, he vowed to "build a nation without queues for kerosene, gas, and fuel ... a nation with plentiful resources."

The island nation's economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and populist tax cuts. A chronic shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation had led to a severe shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials.

Desperate bid

The president replaced Mahinda Rajapaksa with Wickremesinghe, an opposition parliamentarian who has held the post five times previously, in a desperate bid to placate protesters. But the protesters have said they will keep up their campaign as long as Gotabaya Rajapaksa remains president.

They have also labelled Wickremesinghe a stooge and criticized his appointment of four cabinet ministers, all members of the political party run by the Rajapaksa brothers. Wickremesinghe said on Monday he took the role for the good of the country.

ranil

Wickremesinghe is yet to announce key ministers including the crucial post of finance minister, who will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for badly needed financial help for the country. Former Finance Minister Ali Sabry had held preliminary talks with the multilateral lender, but he quit along with Mahinda Rajapaksa last week.