Sri Lanka economic crisis: 13-hour long power cuts, fuel shortage force thousands to protest
Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis as country witnesses massive power cuts upto 10 to 13-hour long, shortage of fuel and spillovers from the crisis in Ukraine have sent the island nation over the edge.
The island nation is facing its worst-ever economic crisis since independence, mainly due to shortage of foreign currency and the fast depreciation of its currency.
Meanwhile, reports have surfaced that thousands of people suffering from the deep economic crisis for weeks protested in capital Colombo.
Protesters conducted a march on Thursday and clashed with the police. Reports suggest that Special Task Force have to be deployed to control the crowd.
Immediate neighbour India has come to rescue with nearly $2.5 billion financial assistance from January to purchase essential such as fuel, food, and medicines.
The island nation awaits the arrival of a diesel shipment under Indian credit line on Saturday to end current 13-hour-long power outage which has disrupted the entire country.
Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi on Thursday told media that ongoing 13 hour power cut could be reduced to two hours with the diesel shipment scheduled to arrive in the island under a $500 million credit line from India.
He said that the shipment would arrive on Saturday night and the Ceylon Electricity Board would be able to restore power from Sunday.
Power cuts may remain till May
However, she warned with hydropower generation having come to standstill with no rain and shortage of fuel due to dollar crunch, it was unlikely to improve the situation and the power cut would be continued till May.
The daily trading of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) had to be limited to two hours from Thursday onwards due to extensive power cuts around the country.
Sri Lanka mainly depends on thermal power generated from coal and fuel oil and hydropower. Power generation from fuel had been limited to two diesel power plants while the rest have been shut down.
