by JD Heyes, Natural News:
The broke, increasingly cash-strapped government of Sri Lanka is continuing to collapse along with the rest of the country in what many economists see as a precursor for the rest of the world.
Last week, the government suspended all fuel sales with the exception of essential services like police, fire and public agencies in a desperate effort to deal with a massive fuel shortage. The decision has bought the government precious little time to send a couple of officials to Russia in order to try and negotiate a new fuel deal.
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“From midnight today, no fuel will be sold except for essential services like the health sector, because we want to conserve the little reserves we have,” government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana noted in a pre-recorded statement, obtained by AFP News.
The Sri Lankan government announced only essential services would operate and be allowed access to fuel until July 10 because of the shortages.
“Sri Lanka has never faced such a severe economic crisis in its history,” Gunewardena added.
Naturally, fuel powers many elements of the Sri Lankan economy including agriculture, so the fuel suspension is only going to worsen an already bad situation.
Bajaj drivers with out fuel in sir Lanka on their daily activity. pic.twitter.com/Xi3Q1ha0tC
— Hassan (@Hassanelwa) June 27, 2022
The move comes less than a week after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the debt-laden economy of the island nation has “completely collapsed.”
“We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity, and food. Our economy has faced a complete collapse,” Wickremesinghe told the parliament on June 22. “It is no easy task to revive a country with a completely collapsed economy, especially one that is dangerously low on foreign reserves.”
“The country is also facing record-high inflation and lengthy power blackouts, all of which have contributed to months of protests — sometimes violent — calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down,” AFP reported.
