COLOMBO
\nCash-strapped Sri Lanka announced a two-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services starting Monday and called for a partial shutdown as its unprecedented economic crisis deepened.
\nThe South Asian nation is facing its worst economic meltdown since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, and has been unable to finance even the imports of essentials since late last year.
\nAs fuel reserves hit rock bottom with supplies barely enough for just one more day, government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana said the sales ban was to save petrol and diesel for emergencies.
\nHe urged the private sector to let employees work from home as public transport ground to a halt.
\n\u201cFrom midnight today, no fuel will be sold except for essential services like the health sector, because we want to conserve the little reserves we have,\u201d Gunawardana said in a pre-recorded statement.
\nHe apologised to consumers for the shortages: \u201cWe regret the inconvenience caused to the people.\u201d
\nElectricity shock
\nThe sudden fuel ban came as the loss-making state-run electricity monopoly asked for a massive price increase for its poorest customers.
\nThe Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) lost 65 billion rupees ($185 million) in the first quarter and sought a nearly tenfold price hike for the heavily-subsided smallest power consumers, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) said.
\nCurrently, anyone using less than 30 kilowatts a month pays a flat 54.27 rupees ($0.15), which the CEB sought to raise to 507.65 rupees ($1.44).
\n\u201cA majority of the domestic consumers will not be able to afford this type of steep increase,\u201d PUCSL chairman Janaka Ratnayake told reporters in Colombo.
\n\u201cHence we proposed a direct subsidy from the Treasury to keep the increase to less than half of what they have asked.\u201d
\nAs part of measures to ease the forex crisis that led to the energy crunch, the CEB will be allowed to charge users who earn foreign currency, such as exporters, in dollars.
\nThe move is aimed at helping the electricity utility collect dollars to finance imports of oil and spare parts it desperately needs, but is unable to secure because of the country\u00b4s forex crisis.
\nThe country is also facing record high inflation and lengthy power blackouts, all of which have contributed to months of protests \u2014 sometimes violent \u2014 calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.
\nLast week, all government schools were shut down and state institutions operated with skeleton staff to reduce commuting and preserve oil.
\nThe state sector shutdown was meant to end this week, but it is now being extended till July 10, when Gunawardana promised to restore fuel supplies.
\nBroken promise
\nOn Sunday, the government promised it will implement a token system to ration distribution of limited fuel stocks, but it failed to take off.
\nThere have been long queues outside the few pumping stations which still had supplies.
\nSri Lanka is seeking cheap oil from Russia and Qatar.
\nEarlier this month, the United Nations launched an emergency response to the island\u00b4s unprecedented economic crisis, feeding thousands of pregnant women who were facing food shortages.
\nFour out of five people in Sri Lanka have started skipping meals as they cannot afford to eat, the UN has said, warning of a looming \u201cdire humanitarian crisis\u201d with millions in need of aid.
\nSri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COLOMBO Cash-strapped Sri Lanka announced a two-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services starting Monday and called for a partial shutdown as its unprecedented economic crisis deepened. The South Asian nation is facing its worst economic meltdown since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, and has been unable to finance even the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7137,2501,793,9130],"class_list":{"0":"post-268716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-economic-crisis","9":"tag-fuel","10":"tag-sri-lanka","11":"tag-worsens"},"yoast_head":"\n