Sri Lanka gets urgent US$500m Indian loan to pay for oil

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka was handed temporary relief from energy shortages and rolling blackouts on Wednesday with a US$500 million loan from India to finance urgent oil purchases for the cash-strapped nation.

Officials said a formal agreement was being signed on Wednesday after two weeks of talks, in addition to a recent US$915 million in foreign exchange support. Sri Lanka's economy is also seeing a scarcity of rice, automotive parts and cement, with supermarkets forced to ration some staple foods.Tourism is a key foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka but the sector has collapsed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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