COLOMBO, June 1: Sri Lanka is facing a “crisis” and needs to curb fuel consumption to avoid further economic strain, the island nation’s energy minister said on Monday.
Minister of Energy Anura Karunathilake’s warning came amid soaring energy prices and global supply disruption due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
“We are in a crisis, so we need to reduce our fuel consumption as much as possible. By introducing the QR code system, we were able to reduce it, but not to the expected levels,” Karunathilake told reporters.
The QR rationing system was introduced mid-March in Sri Lanka as a measure in view of hoarding by consumers.
Under the system, varying weekly quotas were set for different types of vehicles, with cars being allowed 15 litres per week and buses 60 litres per week.
Noting that the higher global oil prices have intensified pressure on the island nation’s forex reserves, the minister said that the expenditure for oil was USD 186 million in January and USD 97 million in February.
“By May, we had to spend USD 524 million,” he said.
Karunathilake said that curbing consumption would reduce the amount of dollars leaving the country and warned that the ongoing trend could have adverse consequences for the broader economy.
Since the West Asia conflict began in late February, Sri Lanka has revised retail fuel prices five times, and imposed various other measures under an austerity drive. (PTI)
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