There won’t be electricity for 10 hours daily throughout the country. On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, Janaka Ratnayake, announced the extension in the duration of power cuts. Earlier the nation was facing power outages for seven hours.
Even hydroelectric power generation has dropped significantly due to low water levels in Sri Lanka. The Power Ministry has said that some water from the hydro-reservoirs is being preserved for domestic consumption and irrigating the upcoming new crops.
Meanwhile, with fuel stations running dry, the state-run refiner, Ceylon Petroleum, has asked people not to wait for diesel in queues on Wednesday and Thursday. The announcement came after it failed to unload an expected shipment of 37,500 metric tons of fuel.
State-run hospitals are also running out of life-saving medicines. Doctors and healthcare workers interviewed by Agence France-Presse have said that there is a dire shortage of vital drugs and diagnostic chemicals. Due to its worst-ever financial crisis triggered by foreign currency shortage, Sri Lanka is unable to import them.
Sri Lanka had $2.3 billion of foreign reserves last month. However, its trade deficit doubled to $1.1 billion, and it awaits a bond repayment of $1 billion in July.
The Lankan state authorities have devalued the national currency and raised interest rates to contain the financial crisis. However, despite financial regulations in the country and assistance from India and China, Sri Lanka would need a comprehensive strategy from (International Monetary Fund) IMF to sail out of the crisis. It is learnt that Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa will be going to Washington to secure a rescue package from the IMF in Apri