Govt. seeks to purchase oil under 90-day credit

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera 
Sri Lanka’s fuel crisis will end soon with the government’s decision to purchase 225,000 MT of oil under 90-day credit lines sought from several countries, Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge told Parliament yesterday.
“We will be able to meet 30 percent of the national need through this move,” the Minister said. “We will also purchase naphtha and furnace oil,” he added.

“We will further receive 20,000 MT of aviation oil on March 22, and a further stock of 37,300 MT of oil,” he said.
The Minister assured that fuel queues would be reduced by the weekend. However, he said the government has been forced to pay for oil purchases immediately as sellers are reluctant to offer credit facilities due to the ongoing forex crisis. Meanwhile, Sate Minister of Consumer Affairs C. B. Ratnayake said prices of cooking gas, and a number of other essential items will go up shortly because of the war in Ukraine. “We as SLFP MPs are of the view that the government should not hide the truth from the people. 

It was SLFP who suggested calling for an all party conference to discuss solutions for the economic crisis and we are glad that President has agreed to it,” he added.