Sri Lanka on Monday announced a shorter working week to conserve its scarce fuel reserves as it prepares for a prolonged war in the Middle East.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of global exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against it, now in its third week.
Sri Lankan Commissioner-General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi said state institutions would operate only four days a week starting tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
The new austerity measures would also apply to schools and universities, and would remain in place indefinitely.
“We are also asking the private sector to follow suit and declare every Wednesday a holiday from now on,” Chandrakeerthi told reporters after an emergency meeting chaired by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
“We must prepare for the worst, but hope for the best,” Dissanayake told senior officials, according to a person who attended the meeting.
Dissanayake said essential services, including hospitals, ports and emergency services would continue to operate as usual.
The Sri Lankan government is also suspending all public ceremonies and asking civil servants to work from home where possible to limit fuel use.
Sri Lanka imports all of its oil and also buys coal for electricity generation.
Fuel rationing began on Sunday, limiting each motorist to 15 liters of gasoline or diesel per week, while public transport was allocated up to 200 liters.
Officials said the nation’s gasoline and diesel reserves would last nearly six weeks, but warned that any disruption to fresh supplies could severely affect the nation.
Sri Lanka buys refined petroleum products from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, while crude oil for its Iran-built refinery is sourced from the Middle East.
The Sri Lankan government has warned that any escalation in fighting in the Middle East and a prolonged war could seriously undermine its efforts to emerge from the economic meltdown of 2022.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its US$46 billion foreign debt in 2022 after the country ran out of foreign exchange. Since then, Colombo has secured a US$2.9 billion IMF bailout.
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