Sri Lanka's Light Gul: Energy crisis deepens in the country which is financially crippled by a debt trap, 10 hours cut every day

Posted on 31st Mar 2022 by rohit kumar

The economic situation in Sri Lanka, which is trapped in the trap of Chinese debt, has already worsened and people are also fascinated by food and drink. Amid a deepening crisis in the country's economy, the energy crisis has made people's conditions miserable. According to a report, the Sri Lankan government has increased the daily power cut by ten hours.

 

 

So far seven hours were being cut

 

In Sri Lanka, where inflation has reached its peak after a sharp decrease in foreign exchange reserves. The situation is that petrol and diesel are not available and the prices of everyday things are becoming out of reach. Meanwhile, the energy crisis has made people's conditions miserable. Now people here have to live without electricity for ten hours every day. Power cuts across Sri Lanka have been increased from seven hours to ten hours from Wednesday due to the non-availability of fuel to produce electric power.

 

 

There is an outcry in the country due to the lack of fuel

 

According to Sri Lankan officials, thousands of people stand in line outside petrol pumps for petrol and diesel every day due to a lack of fuel. Such a situation has arisen in this island country due to the lack of foreign exchange. Janak Ratnayake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said that there is a shortage of fuel to run thermal power, so there is a shortage of 750 MW of electricity. Significantly, the foreign exchange reserves of Sri Lanka, which are under the debt of many countries including China, fell by more than 70 percent to $2.36 billion in January, which is continuously declining. Due to the lack of foreign exchange, most of the essential goods, medicines, petrol, and diesel in the country are not being imported from abroad.

 

Inflation broke all records

 

Petroleum prices have skyrocketed amid the country's foreign exchange crisis. According to the report, there is no foreign exchange left for the government of Sri Lanka to buy petrol and diesel, due to which this crisis has deepened even more. A few days ago, such pictures came from Sri Lanka that people broke down at the petrol pump to buy petrol and the army had to be called to control the people. Thousands of people are waiting in queue for hours to buy oil. The dollar crunch in the country has affected all sectors. Inflation in the country reached a record level of 17.5 percent in February, which is the highest in the whole of Asia.

 

Effects of over-dependence on imports

 

Significantly, Sri Lanka imports most of its items. It includes everything from medicine to oil. According to the report, the share of petroleum products in Sri Lanka's total imports was 20 percent in December last year. But, due to the decrease in foreign exchange reserves, the government of Sri Lanka is failing to import essential items including fuel. Due to this, there is a shortage of essential commodities in the country and their prices are skyrocketing day by day or else the common people of the country are getting away from their daily needs. Sri Lanka also imports petroleum, food, paper, sugar, pulses, medicines, and transport equipment. Talking about the present time, due to the affected paper supply in the country, where newspapers are closed, the other hand school examinations are not being conducted.

 

food-loving countrymen

 

According to the report in the past, due to the shortage of cooking gas and electricity in the country, about 1,000 bakeries have been closed and the remaining ones are also not being produced properly. People also have to buy a bread packet for $ 0.75 (150) rupees. Not only this, the price of one kg of rice and sugar has reached Rs 290 per kg. At present, people have to spend up to Rs 100 on tea. Significantly, on August 30 last year, the Sri Lankan government declared a national financial emergency following a sharp fall in currency value and a sharp rise in food prices after that. The cost of one kg of chillies in the country has gone up to Rs 710, an increase of 287 percent in the same month. Not only this, the price of brinjal increased by 51 percent, then the price of onion increased by 40 percent. Had to pay up to Rs 200 for one kg of potatoes.

 

 

Debt burdened economy

 

Sri Lanka has an external debt of about $ 32 billion. In this way, the government of Sri Lanka faces a double challenge. On the one hand, he has to pay the foreign debt and on the other hand, he has to rescue his people with difficulty. The government is left with no option but to seek financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A report said that the Sri Lankan government will have to restructure the foreign debt by July. The reason for this is that the government does not have the money to repay the debt of one billion dollars in July. It was estimated by the World Bank last year that 500,000 people in the country have been trapped in poverty since the start of the corona epidemic. According to the report, even for the families which were considered affluent earlier, they are finding it difficult to collect bread for June 2.

 

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