Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon has agreed to give a loan of 22 billion rupees to the power utility to import coal utility after a tariff hike, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.
Foreign exchange availability had increased in Sri Lanka’s after the island’s reserve collecting central bank halted inflationary policy (generally called money printing or the acquisition of domestic assets) which triggers forex shortages.
However, the CEB did not have rupee cashflows to pay for coal upfront, despite dollars being available in the banking system.
The CEB had also sought a 50 billion rupee loan from state-run People’s Bank to pay for renewable power producers, Wijesekera told reporters.
