Crisis-hit Sri Lanka offers fuel quotas to firms which can pay in dollars

Plans to allow foreign firms to distribute fuel & let marine bunker operators sell diesel

Bankrupt Sri Lanka is offering a guaranteed fuel quota to any company that can pay in dollars.

Potential purchasers must pay as much as a month in advance to open a consumer account at state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp., Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera tweeted on Sunday. Fuel will be issued on a daily or weekly basis from July 12, according to the minister.

Sri Lanka has closed public schools and offices through July 10 to conserve fuel as the nation doesn’t have the dollars to pay for imports. Roads across the island have been deserted, even as thousands of vehicles continue to queue for kilometers waiting for filling stations to be replenished.

“I see this recent announcement by the ministry of power and energy as the natural progression of increased dollarization in Sri Lanka to meet its near term challenges,” said Deshan Pushparajah, head of global markets and investment banking at CAL Sri Lanka. “Dollar preference on the part of the Ceylon Petroleum Corp may drive its larger customers, including the Ceylon Electricity Board, to also make similar pronouncements in the coming weeks.”

Calls to central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, who begins a new six-year term Monday, were unanswered.

Sri Lanka has announced plans to allow foreign companies to distribute fuel and let marine bunker operators sell diesel and furnace oil to export companies in dollars in a bid to ease the crippling shortages. The energy minister also traveled to Qatar last week to try to secure fresh supplies while the government is hoping for approval from India of a $500 million credit line for fuel imports.

The authorities are also exploring the possibility of conducting tea auctions in dollars, the plantation minister said in parliament last month. Local media has also reported that shipping agents have requested exporters to pay freight in dollars, while airlines have started to denominate tickets in dollars instead of the local currency.

No fuel & cash, schools stay shut

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Sunday extended school closures for one week because there isn't enough fuel for teachers and parents to get children to classrooms and the energy minister appealed to the country's expatriates to send money home through banks to finance new oil purchases.

A huge foreign debt has left the Indian Ocean island with none of the suppliers willing to sell fuel on credit. The available stocks, sufficient for only several days, will be provided for essential services, including health and port workers, public transport and food distribution, officials said.

”Finding money is a challenge. It's a huge challenge,” Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters.

He said the government has ordered new fuel stocks and the first ship with 40,000 tonnes of diesel is expected to arrive on Friday while the first ship carrying gasoline would come on July 22.

Several other fuel shipments are in the pipeline. But he said authorities are struggling to find $587 million to pay for the fuel. Wijesekera said that Sri Lanka owed about $800 million to seven fuel suppliers. Last month, schools were closed nationwide for a day due to fuel shortages and had remained closed for the last two weeks in urban areas. Schools will remain shut until Friday (AP/PTI).