Sri Lankan PM Wickremesinghe claims the country has run out of petrol

Photo: Anadolu Agency

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka has run out of gasoline, the country's newly appointed prime minister announced on Tuesday.

"We only have petrol stocks for a single day," tweeted Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives," he added.

Wickremesinghe stated that the government seeks $75 million in foreign money to fulfill bills, including oil supplies.

As the country relies on oil to generate electricity, he warned of blackouts lasting up to 15 hours a day.

"We will face significant obstacles and difficulty. However, this is just temporary. In the following months, we will get assistance from our overseas allies. They have already promised their assistance "he remarked.

At the end of March, people came to the streets to protest daily power outages lasting several hours and shortages of food, petrol, and other essential supplies caused by the country's worst-ever economic crisis, which was precipitated by a foreign exchange shortfall.

On May 9, violence broke out between government supporters, and demonstrators congregated near the Prime Minister's Office, prompting the deployment of military units to the capital city of Colombo.

As opposition pressure increased, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister.

The government announced a statewide curfew and instructed troops to open fire on anyone looting or endangering public property or life.

Eight people, including a deputy of the ruling party and two police officers, were killed, and about 250 were injured in widespread protests.

Publish : 2022-05-17 13:23:00

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