Sri Lanka limits fuel to essential services with supplies set to run out in days

theguardian.com:

Sri Lanka’s energy minister has said the country’s fuel supplies will run out in a few days, forcing nationwide school closures and prolonged power cuts, as the worst economic crisis in its history continues.

Kanchana Wijesekera said fuel stocks were enough to last less than a day under current demand, and petrol and diesel was now being limited to very essential services such a healthcare and public transport in order to stretch out the remaining supplies for a few more days and ensure the country does not shut down entirely.

Sales of fuel for private vehicles have been banned for at least the next week, but outside petrol stations across the country there were still miles-long queues of vehicles as people continued to wait.

The fuel crisis is affecting almost every element of life in Sri Lanka, preventing people from being able to go to work and school. On Sunday school closures in Colombo and other major cities were extended for another week as teachers and pupils have been unable to travel to classrooms. Power cuts lasting up to 14 hours have been imposed to preserve fuel.

Another shipment of diesel is due at the weekend and petrol is due in two weeks, but Wijesekera admitted Sri Lanka did not have the money to pay for the shipments. They will total about $587m, and the country has only $125m left in the bank.

The government is already about $800m in debt to several fuel suppliers as its reserves of foreign currency have run dry and it has been barred from borrowing any more money from international markets. It has been negotiating with Russia to try to acquire some cheap fuel.

Sri Lanka has been facing fuel shortages for months as it grapples with a financial crisis that has left it unable to import essentials such as