Sri Lanka to experience 10-hour daily power cuts

Amid the financial crisis Sri Lanka will be experiencing 10hour daily power cuts from Wednesday announced Public Utilities Commission of the island nationThe 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 XinhuaSri 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 saidMeanwhile Ceylon Petroleum Corporation CPC on Tuesday announced that there will be a diesel shortage in the country on Wednesday and Thursday reported XinhuaWe were unable to unload 37500 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 mediaWijesinghe said the remaining stocks of diesel would be given to essential servicesSri Lankas currency has been also devalued by almost SLR 90 against the US dollar since March 8Sri Lankas economy has been in a free fall since the COVID19 pandemic due to the crash of the tourism sectorSri 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 assistanceIndia provided more than USD 500 million in foreign currency swaps to strengthen Sri Lankas foreign reserves taking the total up to USD 900 million India also extended the repayment time frame for the USD 500 million debt of Sri Lanka under the Asian Clearance ArbitrationMore recently on March 17 Sri Lanka signed a USD 1 billion credit line deal with India for the procurement of food medicines and other essential items during Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapakshas twoday visit to IndiaThe International Monetary Fund IMF on Friday recommended a number of measures including tax hikes for macroeconomic stability in Sri Lanka and also to mitigate adverse impacts on the vulnerable and the poorThe report recommended implementing a credible and coherent strategy to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting vulnerable groups and reducing poverty through strengthened welltargeted social safety netsSri Lankas Finance Minister Basil Rajapakse is scheduled to travel to Washington in April in order to seek IMF assistance to deal with the countrys economic crisisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever