'We Have No Choice': Minister Says Sri Lanka Will Start Weekly Quota for Fuel

The country is struggling to import fuel due to the fall of the rupee against the dollar and high prices of crude.

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(Photo: The Quint)

A senior member of the Sri Lankan government said on Sunday, 12 June, that the government will introduce a fuel rationing scheme from next month.

Kanchana Wijesekera, who is the Minister of Power and Energy, Member of Parliament for the Matara District, tweeted, "Fuel Update - Until we have uninterrupted power supply and steady fuel supply, fuel line management will be impossible. With the Financial restrictions, CPC imports fuel to manage for a week but some consumers collect Fuel for a month or more for their machinery n generators."

Another tweet in the thread added, "We have no choice but to register consumers at filling stations and give them a guaranteed weekly quota until we are able to strengthen the financial situation, restore 24 Hour Power and a steady Supply of fuel. I hope to have this system in place by the 1st week of July."

He also told reporters that 5,000 metric tonnes is the minimum amount of diesel required to run private generators that were being used due to the state-imposed power cuts.

Sri Lanka heavily relies on imports for fuel. Due to the sharp fall of the Sri Lankan rupee against the US dollar and the spiking global prices of crude due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country is finding it extremely difficult to buy the necessary imports.

(With inputs from PTI.)