Colombo, Feb 26: Indian Oil Corporation’s Sri Lankan subsidiary raised the price of petroleum by Rs 20 on Saturday, citing hike in fuel costs globally.
Apart from the price revision of petroleum, diesel will now be Rs 15 costlier. This fuel price hike is the second this month by Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC).
The revised price of petroleum is Rs 204 per litre and diesel is Rs 139.
The price hike by LIOC comes as Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s Indian tour to work out more economic relief arrangements with New Delhi gets further delayed.
Basil, the younger brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was due to leave for Delhi this weekend. However, officials said the visit was delayed due to scheduling issues.
His visit intends to clinch the USD 1 billion dollar credit line being extended by India for importing food and medicine.
Out of the USD 1 billion, USD 400 million would be in the form of currency swap to help the island nation with its depleting foreign reserves.
Last week, the Sri Lankan government admitted that it has run out of cash to buy fuel as pumps in most filling stations across the country ran dry, exacerbating the deepening foreign-exchange crisis.
Sri Lanka’s economy is also seeing a scarcity of food and other essentials, which has pushed inflation to a record 25 per cent last month.
Tourism, another key foreign-exchange earner, has also witnessed a lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (PTI)
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