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Crisis-hit Sri Lanka opens IMF talks, begins a two-week shutdown

Many protesters accuse President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his influential family of mishandling the economy

Bs_logoSri Lanka
Demonstrators obstruct an entrance to Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo on Monday (Photo: Reuters).
Agencies
2 min read Last Updated : Jun 21 2022 | 12:00 AM IST
Sri Lanka closed schools and halted non-essential government services on Monday, starting a two-week shutdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel reserves as an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team began bailout talks in the island nation.

Many protesters accuse President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his influential family of mishandling the economy.

Sri Lanka suspended payment on $12 billion of foreign debt in April and is seeking up to $3 billion from the IMF to put its public finances on track and access bridge financing.

A nine-member IMF team, which arrived in the commercial capital Colombo on Monday, held talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on how to structure what will be Sri Lanka’s 17th loan programme with the global lender.

“The prime minister commenced discussions with the IMF team,” Wickremesinghe’s office said in a statement.

But public distress at the prolonged shortages is growing. Protesters blocked an entrance to the finance ministry and police had to help out an official due to attend the IMF talks.

“The protesters were not letting him leave. So the police had to go in and get him out," a government source who declined to be identified told Reuters.

Police said they had arrested 21 people for blocking the gates of the ministry, which adjoins the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, outside which protesters have staged a sit-in since early April.

 Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the country had only 12,300 tons of petrol and 40,000 tons of diesel.

"The central bank has released $90 million to purchase two shipments. We are hoping a petrol shipment will arrive on Thursday and a diesel one on Friday," Wijesekera told Reuters.
 
In February, Sri Lanka's daily consumption of diesel stood at around 40,000 tons, according to a former energy minister.

Topics :sri lankaEconomic CrisisIMFrajapaksa

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