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Fuel supply: Treasury awaits CPC scheduling

31 Jul 2022

  • CBSL asks for more time to secure funding
  • CPC rationing stocks to prolong limited supply: TUs
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Sustaining fuel imports to Sri Lanka for August remains uncertain as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has failed to submit a detailed shipment schedule to the Treasury in order to secure funds, The Sunday Morning learns. The delay in submitting the schedule comes in the backdrop of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) informing the CPC that it can only provide $ 200 million per month for fuel imports.  The Ministry of Power and Energy told the media in June that Sri Lanka needed approximately $ 600 million to import one month’s fuel requirements. The Treasury has also informed the Government that it needs time to look for a possible agency of a donor country to secure the funds required for the CPC to bring down necessary shipments.  However, as of yesterday (30), the Treasury had not received neither a schedule nor fund requirement from the CPC. When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Treasury Deputy Secretary R.M.P. Rathnayake said that they had not commenced seeking funds yet. “As per my knowledge, the CPC has not requested funds from the Treasury as of yet. I have no idea whether it has made a request from the Central Bank,” he added. The country recently secured approximately 70,000 MT of petrol and 80,000 MT of diesel, and the Government limited fuel distribution by introducing a QR code-based mechanism to track fuel consumption. Meanwhile Power and Energy Ministry Secretary M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana, when asked about the availability of funds to purchase fuel, requested the newspaper to direct the question to the CBSL. The petroleum sector unions, meanwhile, urged the Government to reveal its inability to bring down the necessary fuel stocks for the next month and the reason behind the recent introduction of a National Fuel Pass to the public. Energy Trade Union (ETU) Convener Ananda Palitha told The Sunday Morning that the factories which had directly paid in dollars to the CPC to get diesel were yet to receive their diesel stocks.  “They have paid $ 16 million for diesel 14 days in advance. Fuel station owners have paid Rs. 850 million, but they are still waiting for stocks,” Palitha said. Palitha stressed that even though the CPC had received stocks, it had limited distribution in order to prolong the available supply of stocks, since they were sufficient only for around 17 days until mid-September, and the CPC was uncertain whether it would be able to bring down more stocks.  Attempts to contact the Minister of Power and Energy on the delays in scheduling and import planning failed. 

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