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International fuel suppliers and foreign banks are now rejecting Sri Lankan backed letters of credit admitted a minister this morning, as fuel supplies look set to run dry this week with no new shipments incoming.
Sri Lanka only has 9,000 metric tons of diesel and 6,000 metric tons of petrol admitted Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, enough for only a few more days.
Hundreds of thousands of motorists across the island have been queuing for hours at petrol stations, with Sri Lanka facing the prospect of grinding to a complete standstill this week.
"We are struggling to find suppliers,” said Wijesekera.
“They are reluctant to accept letters of credit from our banks. There are over $700 million in overdue payments so now suppliers want advance payments.”
He went on to acknowledge that “petrol, diesel and crude oil shipments due earlier this week and next week” would not arrive “on time”.
“I apologise for the delay and inconvenience,” the minister said. "We are doing everything we can to get new stocks but we don't know when that will be."
Read more from The Guardian here, CNN here and EconomyNext here.