Sri Lanka Has Solicited Loan from India to Buy Crude Oil || Sri Lanka Has Solicited $500 Million as Loan || 2021 ||

SRI LANKA HAS SOLICITED USD 500 MILLION AS LOAN FROM INDIA TO BUY CRUDE OIL :

      Sri Lanka has solicited a USD 500 million loan from India. Although Sri Lanka is in the midst of a severe foreign exchange crisis, despite that they have solicited the loan to buy crude oil. Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has warned that the country's current availability of fuel can only be confirmed till next January. So this step was taken shortly after his warning.

      The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owes about USD 3.3 billion to two major government banks. The two banks are Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank. State oil distributors import crude oil from the Middle East and refined goods from other areas, including Singapore. CPC chairman Sumith Wijesinghe made a statement on a local news website (newsfirst.lk). According to him, they are currently working with the Indian High Commission here to get USD 500 million credit line as a facility under the India-Sri Lanka economic partnership arrangement. He added that after getting this facility, the demand for petrol and diesel would be met by buying these two fuels. Sri Lanka has been forced to spend more on oil imports in 2021 as oil prices have risen globally. As a result, the country's oil bill rose 41.5 percent to USD 2 billion in the first seven months of 2021, compared to 2020. India and Sri Lanka's energy secretaries are expected to sign a loan agreement soon, the report quoted Finance Secretary SR Attygalle as saying.

SPECIAL NOTES FOR ASPIRANTS :

• Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is capital of Sri Lanka. 

• Sri Lankan rupee is currency of Sri Lanka. 

• The largest city in Sri Lanka is Colombo. 

• Gotabaya Rajapaksa is President of Sri Lanka. 

• The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is Mahinda Rajapaksa.