Sri Lanka needs to pay 587 million USD for planned fuel imports

COLOMBO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka needs to pay 587 million U.S. dollars for planned fuel imports until mid-August, said Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera on Sunday.

Sri Lanka has to make these payments to several foreign oil companies from Monday for different shipments of fuel, Wijesekera told reporters.

By Sunday afternoon, state-owned fuel importer and distributor Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had 12,774 metric tons of diesel, 1,414 metric tons of 92 octane petrol, 2,647 metric tons of 95 octane petrol, 233 metric tons of super diesel, 500 metric tons of jet fuel and 29,000 metric tons of furnace oil in stock.

Sri Lanka has been facing crippling fuel shortages, and prices of fuel have increased four times this year.