BREAKING: In an AP interview, Sri Lanka's prime minister says the island nation is desperate for fuel and hopes to acquire more from the Mideast. If that doesn't work, though, he says he's open to buying it from Russia.
Sri Lanka has amassed $51 billion in foreign debt, but has suspended repayment of nearly $7 billion due this year. The crushing debt has left the country with no money for basic imports, which means citizens are struggling to access basic necessities such as food, fuel, medicine — even toilet paper and matches. The shortages have spawned rolling power outages, and people have been forced to wait days for cooking gas and gasoline in lines that stretch for kilometers .
“If we can get from any other sources, we will get from there. Otherwise may have to go to Russia again,” he said. . Opposition figures have accused the president and the former prime minister of taking on a slew of Chinese loans for splashy infrastructure projects that have since failed to generate profit, instead adding to the country’s debt.Critics have also pointed to a beleaguered port in the hometown of then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Hambantota, built along with a nearby airport as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects, saying they cost too much and do too little for the economy.
Sri Lanka is also seeking financial assistance from the World Food Programme, which may send a team to the country soon, and Wickremesinghe is banking on a. But even if approved, he doesn’t expect to see money from the package until October onwards. “I think by the end of the year, you could see the impact in other countries” as well, he said. “There is a global shortage of food. Countries are not exporting food.”In Sri Lanka, the price of vegetables has jumped threefold while the country’s rice cultivation is down by about a third, the prime minister said.