Higher oil prices push Sri Lanka into deeper economic crisis
ABC News
Sri Lanka's already dire economic crisis has deepened as oil prices have surged above $110 a barrel
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka’s already dire economic crisis has deepened as oil prices hover near $110 a barrel. Vehicles are stranded with empty tanks, power cuts are depriving students of study time for exams and shopping mall air conditioners are being switched off to conserve energy.
The South Asian island nation already was so short of hard currency that authorities had restricted imports of cars and fertilizer. It's now having to scrape into dwindling reserves to pay for ever more costly oil needed to keep the economy running.
Authorities have announced countrywide power cuts extending up to 7 1/2 hours a day because they can’t supply enough fuel to power stations. Hydro power, the other energy mainstay, often runs short during the dry season. It will only end with monsoonal rains that usually begin in May.
“We can't find diesel, naphtha and furnace oil, all three kinds and therefore we have been compelled to go for such an extended power cut,” Sri Lanka's Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake told reporters.