Sri Lanka seeks $500-million loan from India for fuel purchases amid forex crisis

Sri Lanka seeks $500-million loan from India for fuel purchases amid forex crisis

Sri Lanka has been mulling different options to facilitate measures to prevent fuel pumps from going dry, as the country faces a severe foreign exchange crisis to pay for its imports.







PTI









May 24, 2022 / 12:39 PM IST





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The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved seeking a 500 million dollar loan from the Exim Bank of India for the purchase of petroleum products amid a severe foreign exchange crisis in the island nation.

Sri Lanka has been mulling different options to facilitate measures to prevent fuel pumps from going dry, as the country faces a severe foreign exchange crisis to pay for its imports.

The country is grappling with an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948.

It is struggling with a shortage of almost all essentials, due to the lack of dollars to pay for the imports.

At the Cabinet meeting held on Monday, a proposal was approved to seek an Indian Exim Bank loan to purchase fuel, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said on Tuesday.

In the present economic conditions prevailing approval was granted for the proposal by the power and energy minister to seek a 500