Winning Business Desk

Mumbai. The economic crisis in Sri Lanka is deepening day by day, with the country running out of essentials including food, medicines and fuel, and millions of people suffering due to it. Sri Lankans are facing the worst economic crisis it has seen in decades, with inflation being at an all-time high. Violence is still prevailing, with the government resigning days back and the country being ruled by president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan programme, following which the crisis spiralled like no other.

Colombo Stock Exchange to pause operations

In a recent development, Sri Lanka‘s securities commission has directed the Colombo Stock Exchange to pause operations for a week from April 18, to help investors digest the economic shock. The SEC said in a statement on Friday that the board of directors of the stock exchange, and other stakeholders had asked for a temporary halt of market proceedings. “The SEC has carefully considered the grounds that have been adduced by them and has evaluated the impact the present situation in the country could have on the stock market, in particular the ability to conduct an orderly and fair market for trading in securities,” it said.

Scheduled Power Cuts Resumes

Sri Lanka’s resumed imposed with scheduled power cuts from Saturday, April 16, after a temporary suspension due to the April New Year festival in the country. According to a report, Sri Lanka authorities will disrupt power services across the country in two-hour slots between 9am to 6pm. There will be no power cuts during the nights.

Fuel Rationing Imposed

Sri Lanka has imposed fuel rationing from Friday, with state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which accounts for two-thirds of the retail fuel market, saying it would limit the quantities drivers can buy, and banned pumping into cans altogether to prevent motorists stocking up on petrol or diesel in fear of further rationing.

Cooking Gas Crisis

Sri Lanka has started a process to import cooking gas through a credit line arrangement with India, the chair of the country’s state-run gas company Litro Gas said on Friday as he resigned from his post alleging that a gas mafia was engaged in corruption amidst the country’s worst economic crisis. Theshara Jayasinghe, the Chairman and CEO of Litro Gas, the country’s largest importer and supplier of cooking gas, said in his resignation letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa: “I had initiated a process through the Indian High Commission to obtain an Indian credit line to import gas. This could be easily implemented".

Recently, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that at present only a few banks have the facility to withdraw money from ATMs without a debit card. It is now proposed to provide cardless cash withdrawal facilities at all banks and ATM networks using UPI. This will help in preventing frauds like card skimming, card cloning along with increasing the ease of users.

It has banks like SBI, ICICI, Axis and Bank of Baroda. At present, mobile banking apps are used for cardless. This facility also has a transaction limit of 10,000 to 20,000. Some banks currently charge their customers additional transaction fees for this facility. After the new announcement by RBI, more banks are expected to join this facility to provide the service to their cardholders. It is also expected that the regulator will soon issue detailed guidelines for operation of the service to NPCI, ATM network and banks.