COLOMBO: Sri Lanka shut its only oil refinery Monday after running out of dollars to import crude, in an escalating economic crisis that has triggered shortages of food and other staples.
The country's foreign reserves had fallen to $2.3 billion at the end of October, down from $7.5 billion when the current government came to power almost two years ago. International rating agencies have downgraded Sri Lanka's credit worthiness as the economy shrank an unprecedented 3.6 percent last year with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The island's tourism earnings and foreign worker remittances have dropped, sparking an import ban on a host of goods including vehicles, spare parts and spices since March last year. Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said it was the first time the Sapugaskanda refinery has been shut down since it was built by Iran in 1969.
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