Petrol pumps in this country may run out of diesel by end of April. Here is why

Sri Lanka may soon run out of diesel by the end of April as the country continues to struggle from its worst economic crisis in decades. The island nation recently received fuel aid from India, which may also run dry in the next few weeks. India had supplied diesel, one of the biggest lifelines to produce electricity besides running public transports in Sri Lanka, with a $500 million line of credit. The help came after the Sri Lankan government reported an unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.

Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, has been depending largely on its neighbour to bail it out of the fuel crisis. The crisis has not only led to suspension of public transport at several places, but has forced many petrol pumps to shut down. This has led to massive power crisis in the island nation in the past few weeks.

According to a Reuters report quoting Sri Lankan officials, fuel shipments to the country started coming in late last month as it ran out of diesel completely. This shipment was earlier scheduled to arrive from this month. India is expected to send three more shipments carrying diesel to Sri Lanka between April 15 and April 23. However, it is feared that Lankan fuel stations may be fully exhausted by then.

The fuel crisis in Sri Lanka continues despite the country having one oil refinery. The ongoing economic crisis has led to its shut down twice since November last year as the government was unable to pay for the imports of diesel and other fuel. It has also led to closure of a few thermal power plants due to lack of diesel used to generate power.

In India too, fuel prices have been going up ever since oil companies started to revise rates of petrol and diesel daily since March 22. In 14 hikes in the past 18 days, price of petrol and diesel have gone up by up to ₹10 per litre.

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