Sri Lanka Crisis: India has also extended two credit lines worth more than $ 2 billion to help buy food, drugs and other essences.
India will give Sri Lanka an additional $ 500 million in financial assistance to buy fuel, the Troubled Island Island Foreign Minister told reporters Wednesday, adding that Bangladesh was also willing to delay $ 450 million in swap payments to facilitate the burden of the Colombo exchange.
“Help by the IMF will take around six months to come to us and it will come in Tranches,” Foreign Minister Sri Lanka Gl Peiris was quoted by Reuters. “During the intervention period, we need to find funds to keep our people included with the essence.”
It will be the second $ 500 million provided in fuel credit to the Sri Lankan government which fights against the country’s worst financial crisis in life memory.
The first credit line was used earlier this month after shipping 120,000 tons of diesel and 40,000 tons of gasoline.
So far India has provided nearly 400,000 tons of fuel.
Massive protests broke out on Tuesday after fuel reserves ran low.
Thousands of angry drivers burned tires and blocked the main road that led to Capital Colombo, the AFP news agency reported quoting police and local officials.
Protests came after Ceylon Petroleum Corporation raised the price of 92 octane to LKR 338 per liter – Increased LKR 84, PTI reported.
It was the increase in the second price of CPC this month. On Monday the Indian Lankan oil company yesterday climbed the price for the fifth time in six months.
India, in the meantime, has also extended two credit lines worth more than $ 2 billion to help buy food – rice has been sent – drugs and other essence.
India on Tuesday also urged the IMF, or the International Monetary Fund, to immediately provide financial assistance to Sri Lanka.
This was Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman met with the head of the IMF Crystalina Georgieva about the Margin of the World Bank of the IMF spring meeting in the US.
Georgieva praised the assistance expanded by India to his neighbors and other vulnerable economics, especially the assistance provided to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has been seeking Indian assistance in collecting international support to secure bridge financing because it enters negotiations with the IMF for a bailout agreement.
This week there is also talk about connecting an electric grid, said Reuters. It has been seen as a step to help Delhi reduce China’s influence on Sri Lanka.
Crisis-hit Sri Lankan last week default on external debt – reported more than $ 51 billion. Officials say temporary foreign debt payments are suspended to avoid hard defaults and save limited reserves to import important items.
In talks with the IMF, Sri Lanka hopes to secure at least $ 4 billion from a bailout.
Agitation has shaken Sri Lanka for weeks now, with protesters demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – accused of making economic mistakes – resigned.
On Tuesday, for one such face with the police, one protesters were shot dead and 10 others were injured, AFP reported quoting local officials.