Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Sri Lanka has asked Russia for help to provide fuel and resume tourist flights to help the country overcome an unprecedented economic crisis.
This was stated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Wednesday (6/7/2022).
Meanwhile, the island nation has experienced months of power outages, rampant inflation and shortages of food and gasoline. The country was no longer able to finance imports because it ran out of money or went bankrupt.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO RESUME CONTENT
–
Rajapaksa said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for supplies of much-needed fuel with a loan and “humbled” asked for the resumption of flights between Moscow and Colombo.
“We unanimously agree that strengthening bilateral relations in sectors such as tourism, trade and culture is paramount in strengthening the friendship that the two countries have,” he said, quoted as saying. AFP.
Sri Lanka had bought about 90,000 tonnes of Siberian crude in May through an intermediary in Dubai, but ran out of dollars to buy more.
The country is known to be facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
The government defaulted on its US$51 billion foreign debt in April and is in talks to bail out with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
European countries, Australia and the United States have asked their citizens to avoid traveling to Sri Lanka as the crisis deepens.
The country is on track to run out of petrol and diesel, with non-essential government offices and schools ordered to close in a bid to conserve limited fuel supplies.
Next Article
Minister of Mass Resign, Sri Lankan President Takes This Action
–
–
(luc/luc)
–
