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Updated - April 07, 2026 at 06:38 PM.

| Colombo

Sri Lanka is in talks with Russia and China to augment supplies in the coming months | Photo Credit: DINUKA LIYANAWATTE

Sri Lanka on Tuesday rolled out relief measures to help citizens cope with the impact of war in West Asia. Addressing parliament, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced fuel and fertilizer subsidies, and a temporary increase in the government’s targeted cash transfer programme for the poor. Further, the government will bear the cost of electricity for consumers using less than 90 units over the next three months.

“The total relief package is valued at 100 billion rupees [roughly $317 million] over three months,” he said, adding that the ‘relief package’ was being funded this through the existing Budget.

Dissanayake’s announcement comes a week before Sri Lankans mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, one of the biggest festivals celebrated on the island. It also coincides with the government’s ongoing talks with a visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

One Crisis After Another

A staff-level agreement for the next tranche of the Fund’s $2.9 billion-assistance to Sri Lanka — extended following the 2022 economic crash — is expected this week. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens, already grappling with IMF-linked austerity, are now forced to contend with sharp hikes in fuel, LPG, and electricity prices owing to the West Asia conflict, the second major crisis to impact Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah in December 2025.

Amid the persisting uncertainty, in fuel supplies and global oil prices, Sri Lanka is in talks with Russia and China to augment supplies in the coming months.

Indian Assistance

On March 28,  India delivered 38,000 metric tonnes (MT) of petroleum to Sri Lanka, including 20,000 MT of diesel and 18,000 MT of petrol, following a telephone call between President Dissanayake and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A top official at the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which has over 70 per cent of the market share, said the country’s current fuel stocks will ensure smooth supply until end of May. 

“We have been talking to Russia, and we are now in discussion with China, to augment supply going forward,” Mayura Neththikumarage, Managing Director of CPC, told The Hindu. “The QR-code system introduced last month to manage supplies has helped us,” he added, referring to the government’s decision to ration fuel sales, limiting weekly quotas, depending on the category of the vehicle. Sources at Lanka IOC, subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation in Sri Lanka, the second largest supplier on the island, said it had stocks to last until mid-May. 

Meera Srinivasan is The Hindu correspondent in Colombo

Published on April 7, 2026

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