COLOMBO: One of Sri Lanka's biggest fuel suppliers put up its prices by as much as 12 per cent on Saturday , as the cash-strapped island's energy crisis worsened.
The island is in the grips of an economic crisis after the tourism sector, a key foreign-exchange earner, collapsed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.The country is now suffering widespread shortages, including fuel, electricity, automotive parts and cement, with supermarkets forced to ration staple foods including rice, sugar and milk powder.
Energy minister Udaya Gammanpila announced this week that he expected fuel shortages to ease in"days", but warned that a sharp price increase was necessary to retain the viability of the loss-making CPC. Several thermal power stations, meanwhile, have closed with the electricity utility extending daily power cuts to five-and-half-hours a day from Friday.