Economic crisis in Sri Lanka: Litro Gas Company Chairman Theshara Jayasinghe resigns

As Sri Lanka faces the gas crisis, the chairman of Litro Gas Company, Theshara Jayasinghe has stepped down from his post.

Jayasinghe had handed over his letter of resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In a letter, he said that the gas crisis in the country cannot be resolved at the institution level of Litro Gas. He further stated that they need the support of those people who are involved in the overall economic structure of the country, Colombo Page reported.

The chairman of Litro Gas Company stated that due to the previous authorities in the institution responsible for the management of the public finances and regulation of the country's financial management negligence and carelessness, the people suffered.

He also said that the institution failed to implement the recommendations required to resolve this crisis easily.

Litro recently decided to suspend gas distribution until the 17th due to the depletion of stocks, reported Colombo Page.

Meanwhile, the island nation introduced fuel rationing for most categories of non-commercial vehicles starting Friday, local media reported.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) announced the restrictions on issuing fuel for various categories of vehicles starting at 1:00 pm on Friday.

Fuel will only be issued for LKR 1000 for Motorcycles, LKR 1,500 for three-wheelers, and LKR 5,000 for Cars, Vans, and Jeeps, Daily Mirror reported.

CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe informed that the new regulations do not apply to Buses, Lorries, and Commercial vehicles.

Earlier, CPC had requested people to purchase only the required quantity of fuel as sufficient stocks of fuel have been supplied to filling stations, according to Colombo Page.

Sri Lanka's economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the crash of the tourism sector. The country is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has affected its capacity to import food and fuel. The shortage of essential goods has forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.

India had earlier provided Sri Lanka with a USD 500 million Line of Credit for fuel purchases which are expected to exhaust soon

(ANI)