Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol, new prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says

Sri Lanka prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an official statement on Monday that the nation currently has petrol stocks for just one day and he also pointed out that the economy is in a precarious situation with Sri Lanka looking to obtain USD 75 million in the next few days.

“To ease the queues, we must obtain approximately USD 75 million within the next couple of days. At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day. Due to the diesel shipment that arrived yesterday, the diesel lack of diesel will be resolved to some extent. Under the Indian credit line, two more diesel shipments are due to arrive on the 18th May and 1st June. In addition, two petrol shipments are expected on 18th and 29th May,” Wickremesinghe said in his statement according to Newswire.

The selection for the new prime minister of Sri Lanka came amidst massive uproar against the Rajapaksa family but Wickremesinghe was able to win the support of the two main opposition parties.

The prime minister recognised the situation that the country is going through right now and said that ‘the next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives’.

“At present, the Sri Lankan economy is extremely precarious. Although the former government’s budget projected a revenue of SLR 2.3 trillion, SLR 1.6 trillion is the realistic projection of this year’s revenue. The estimated government expenditure for this year is SLR 3.3 trillion. However, due to the increase in interest rates and additional expenditure of the former government, the total government expenditure is SLR 4 trillion. The budget deficit for the year is SLR 2.4 trillion,” he said.

The supply of medicines was also affected by the lack of funds and with the inflation going up, the PM said – “We have to continue printing money to pay salaries and for essentials.”

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