Colombo
Amid the financial crisis, Sri Lanka will be experiencing 10-hour daily power cuts from Wednesday, announced Public Utilities Commission of the island nation.
The Ceylon Electricity Board said in a statement that they were “compelled to take demand management measures due to inadequate power generation, as a result of fuel shortage and unavailability of generators,” reported Xinhua.
Sri Lanka has been facing power cuts since February due to dwindling electricity production in hydropower plants as well as diesel shortages that have crippled the operations of thermal power plants, the Commission said.
Meanwhile, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Tuesday announced that there will be a diesel shortage in the country on Wednesday and Thursday, reported Xinhua.
“We were unable to unload 37,500 tons of diesel shipment as planned on Tuesday. Therefore, we request the public not to queue up at filling stations for diesel on March 30 and 31,” CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe told the media.
Wijesinghe said the remaining stocks of diesel would be given to essential services.
Sri Lanka’s currency has been also devalued by almost SLR 90 against the US dollar since March 8.
Sri Lanka’s economy has been in a free fall since the COVID-19 pandemic due to the crash of the tourism sector.
Sri Lanka is presently facing a foreign exchange shortage which has led to a fuel, power and gas shortage and has sought the assistance of friendly countries for economic assistance.
