Crisis-Hit Sri Lanka Pursues Foreign Oil Firms Amid Acute Fuel Shortages
Sri Lanka canvassed oil companies in petroleum-producing nations on Tuesday to import and sell their products in the Indian Ocean island, opening its market to resolve acute shortages of fuel during its worst economic crisis in decades.
Depleted foreign exchange reserves have left the nation of 22 million unable to pay for imports of essential items from fuel to food and medicines.
"An advertisement was published today calling for expression of interest (EOI) for oil companies to import, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka," Kanchana Wijesekera, the power and energy minister, said on Twitter.
Advertisement was published today calling for EOIs for Oil Companies to Import, Distribute & Sale of Petrolieum Prodcuts in SL. Selected companies will be able to operate CEYPETCO & New Fuel stations, providing access for for new companies to engage in the Retail Business in SL. pic.twitter.com/ZtPpG7pU3h
July 26, 2022The news follows Sri Lanka's decision last month to allow such imports and sales, as it scrambles to ensure sufficient supplies of petrol and diesel.
The approvals for oil firms to be picked in the new process will effectively end a market duopoly involving a subsidiary of India's state-run Indian Oil Corp.
State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC), which controls about 80% of the market with a national network of 1,190 fuel stations, will give a share of its resources and pumps to the new entrants, the government said in its notice.
Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 has its roots in economic mismanagement and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on a tourism-dependent economy.
Protesters angry about the shortages toppled the Rajapaksa ruling family, ushering in a new government after forcing the resignation this month of the previous president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore.
As many as 18 rights groups have asked Singapore's attorney general to investigate Rajapaksa for his role in Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war.
"Now that Rajapaksa is no longer shielded by immunity, Singapore must seize this remarkable opportunity," said Archana Ravichandradeva, of the group People for Equality in Relief in Lanka.
It is one of the groups that sent a joint letter to the Singapore official on Tuesday, following a request last week by another rights group seeking a similar investigation.
Mr Rajapaksa has previously denied accusations that he was responsible for rights abuses during the war.
Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war between separatist insurgents from the ethnic Tamil minority and government forces ended in 2009. Rights groups accused both sides of abuses during the war.
The first Sri Lankan president to resign from the job, Rajapaksa could return to the country, cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunewardena told reporters on Tuesday.
"It is my belief he may eventually consider returning to Sri Lanka," Gunewardena said. "If he returns he will be treated in accordance with his status as a former president."
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
