Sri Lankan crisis: Country seeks India’s help for cooking gas supply

  Sri Lanka is currently experiencing worst economic crisis in history as the country has started a process to import cooking gas through a credit line arrangement with India. With

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing worst economic crisis in history as the country has started a process to import cooking gas through a credit line arrangement with India.

With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for months.

Meanwhile, the chair of country’s state-run gas company Litro gas, theshara Jayasinghe, resigned from his post alleging that a gas mafia was engaged in corruption admist the country’s worst economic crisis.

Jayasinghe said he was resigning as he did not receive the fullest cooperation from the government and had come under pressure from what he called a gas mafia operating against him.

Massive anti-government protests are being held throughout the country with a major demonstration happening outside the Rajapaksa secretariat in central Colombo.

The protesters expressed anger over the latest decision to ration fuel at retail stations.

With the economic crisis and the shortage of forex, an Indian credit line of USD 500 million for fuel imports provided a lifeline to the island nation.

India recently announced to extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis following a previous USD 500 billion line of credit in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

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