Sri Lanka struggles to find fuel suppliers

We are struggling to find suppliers. They are not willing to accept letters of credit from our banks. There are over $700 million in overdue payments so suppliers want advance payments, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters.

In the past two months, Sri Lanka has largely recieved fuel via a $500 million Indian credit line that ran out in mid-June. A petrol shipment due to arrive last Thursday didn't arrive, and no fresh shipments are yet to be scheduled, according to Wijesekera.

We have about 9,000 metric tons of diesel and 6,000 metric tons of petrol left. Sri Lanka also implemented a 12% -- 22% fuel price increase in the early hours of Sunday. In May, inflation was at 45.3%, the highest level since 2015, as a result of a price hike. People who are already waiting in miles long queues outside pumps are unlikely to get fuel as the government will focus on issuing the remaining stocks for public transport, power generation and medical services, according to Wijesekera. He said that ports and airports will be given fuel rations because the military will now issue tokens to those waiting, sometimes for days. The government asked about one million public employees to work from home until further notice. A delegation from the US Treasury and State Departments arrived in Colombo on Sunday for a three-day visit to assess the situation. An international Monetary Fund team is already in Sri Lanka for talks on a possible $3 billion bailout package.