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| Sri Lanka |
This crisis Sri Lanka is facing is zero hard currency reserves and inept handling of the macroeconomy. Our Economic woes have been brewing for some time now - over the last 15 years of heavy borrowing & no policy to improve manufacturing & exports in Sri Lanka have led us to this situation.
The coronavirus pandemic then decimated a tourism sector already reeling from Easter attacks in 2019 and dried up the flow of remittances from Sri Lankans abroad. Both are critical sources of foreign cash needed to pay for imports and service the nation's ballooning $ 51 billion foreign debt. But a far bigger factor was government "mismanagement”.
The Foreign exchange crisis has led to shortages to buy the essentials like fuel, medicine, Cooking Gas, etc. The general public is queueing up throughout the country to purchase Gas & fuel. Sri Lanka produces 50% of its power Generation from Diesel and in the absence of Foreign exchange reserves to purchase fuel the government is left with no option but to curtail power - as much as 13 hours a day.
The general public is in a very foul mood in the absence of cooking gas, fuel and 13 hours of daily Power cuts. Last night 2 large protests took an ugly turn when police had used tear gas to disperse crowds in Colombo city.
The Sri Lankan government has agreed to a temporary credit line amounting to US$ 1.5 Billion with the Government of India to purchase essentials such as Fuel & medicine. Therefore we anticipate these shortages to be normalised in a week to 10-days' time.
Established Hotels/resorts in the tourism sector are managing the crisis well. Resorts & DMCs have priority access to fuel under the emergency services category. We have brought/stored sufficient fuel stocks in key geo locations to execute our tours. All hotels have standby power generators and they have access to fuel.
As a responsible company, we can confidently state, there is no cause for concern for tourists. We can operate all our tours without any interruptions. Of course, we may have to adjust itineraries in real-time to avoid any public agitations or protests which we are working diligently to identify if any, through our own staff scattered in the various regions of the country.
Let me know if you need any further clarifications. Will be happy to respond.
AUTHENTICITIES (PVT) LTD
“La Forteresse” No 68, Wehera Kanda Road,
Beddagana, Pita Kotte,Kotte, Western Province 00700
Sri LankaEmail – info@authenticitiessrilanka.com
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