Ranil warns of power cuts, Gammanpila responds

November 29, 2021 at 12:58 PM

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has warned that Sri Lanka could face power cuts in the future if the Government does not resolve the foreign exchange crisis. 

Addressing the Parliament today, the United National Party (UNP) MP said this issue could lead to Sri Lanka running out of money to import necessary fuel. 

He called on the Government to make a statement pertaining to the current situation.

MP Wickremesinghe pointed out that  Sri Lanka is currently in possession of US$ 1.5 billion in foreign reserves, out of which US$ 300 million are gold reserves, which means only Rs. 1.2 is the actual amount in foreign reserves. 

He said this less amount of foreign reserves could lead to the country facing power issues in the future, as Sri Lanka will not have enough money to pay for the importation of fuel. 

In response to the former Prime Minister’s statement, Minister of Power Udaya Gammanpila assured that Sri Lanka was in possession of necessary fuel stocks. 

He said it was reasonable for people to assume that there will be power cuts in the future due to the persisting foreign exchange crisis. 

Reiterating that Sri Lanka has necessary fuel stocks, he said the fuel in hand is available for the next 40 days. 

Minister Gammanpila said that even after the rainy season subsides, Sri Lanka will have stocks of fuel for 40 days thereafter. 

Even though the Sapugaskanda Oil refinery was closed down for 50-days, measures will be taken to resume operations prior to that, he pointed out. 

The Minister of Power further assured that the foreign exchange crisis will not result in power cuts in the country. (NewsWire)