By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera Colombo, May 16 (Agency) Sri Lanka is yet to receive any form of assistance from the international community to get by in the next two weeks, according to authoritative sources. Fuel shipments are needed urgently to run the next two weeks, they said adding that the cost for petroleum for a month is dollars 500 million. Finance ministry officials said the only assistance the country is relying on at the moment is the current Indian credit line.
The International Monetary Fund assistance Sri Lanka is rooting for is nearly four months away. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara on Sunday said that adequate fuel will be made available with the diesel shipment that came on Saturday. He added that three vessels were due within two weeks. He also advised the public to not queue up in fuel stations for the next three days until fuel distribution was completed to fuel stations across the country. Better news at easing the fuel crisis came on Monday when the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union said that with the sufficient rainfall in the hydro-catchment areas, there is no need of generating electricity using thermal power plants, and the maximum power cut would be five hours.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has met Asian Development Bank and World Bank representatives on Sunday and said they will extend support to Sri Lanka. “There is a lot to be done and undone. We are prioritising matters, rest assured they shall be addressed as early as possible. We have managed to get things moving in the last 48 hours,” the Prime Minister said in a tweet.