COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced nationwide seven-and-a-half hour daily power cuts, the longest in more than a quarter of a century, as its foreign exchange crisis leaves it unable to import oil.
The Public Utilities Commission said it was a "black day" for the island nation as it approved the electricity rationing starting Wednesday with power stations running out of fuel.
"What we are facing is not an issue of electricity capacity, but a foreign exchange crisis," the regulatory commission said adding that the country was unable to find dollars to finance oil imports.
The cuts are the longest imposed since 1996, when the country relied on hydropower for as much as 80 percent of its electricity and a prolonged drought saw reservoirs run dry.
Under a new directive, all state institutions were also ordered to switch off their air conditioners in the afternoon to save energy,
Bus operators said they were unable to get diesel and about half the 11,000 fleet did not operate, although a public holiday Tuesday limited the consequences.
"We will see the full impact of the diesel shortage tomorrow when people go back to work," the chairman of the private bus operators association, Gemunu Wijeratne, told AFP.
One of Sri Lanka's biggest fuel suppliers, Lanka IOC, put up prices by as much as 12 percent on Saturday while the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said it too asked the government to allow it to raise prices.
Nonetheless, many pumps were dry on Tuesday and there were long queues at petrol stations which were still open.
Energy minister Udaya Gammanpila told reporters on Saturday that the power crisis had been brought on by the dollar shortage, which he described as the "worst economic crisis since independence" from Britain in 1948.
Sri Lanka's tourism sector, a key foreign-exchange earner, collapsed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government imposed a broad import ban in March 2020 to save foreign currency.
The country is now in the grip of an economic crisis, with widespread shortages, including food, medicines, automotive parts and cement, and supermarkets forced to ration staple foods including rice, sugar and milk powder.
The shortages pushed food inflation to 25 percent in January with overall inflation at 16.8 percent.
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Sri Lanka imposes longest power cuts in 26 years
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Sri Lanka imposes longest power cuts in 26 years
- The Public Utilities Commission said it was a "black day" for the island nation as it approved the electricity rationing starting Wednesday
- Bus operators said they were unable to get diesel
Ice-cool Rybakina beats Sabalenka in tense Australian Open final
- The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
- Rybakina who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022
MELBOURNE: Elena Rybakina took revenge over world number one Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final on Saturday and clinch her second Grand Slam title.
The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2hrs 18mins.
It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis.
The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022.
“Hard to find the words now,” said Rybakina, and then addressed her beaten opponent to add: “I know it is tough, but I hope we play many more finals together.”
Turning to some Kazakh fans in the crowd, she said: “Thank you so much to Kazakhstan. I felt the support from that corner a lot.”
It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open last year for the second time but lost the French Open and Melbourne title deciders.
She was into her fourth Australian Open final in a row and had been imperious until now, with tears in her eyes at the end.
“Let’s hope maybe next year will be a better year for me,” Sabalenka said ruefully.
Rybakina fights back
With the roof on because of drizzle in Melbourne, Rybakina immediately broke serve and then comfortably held for 2-0.
Rybakina faced two break points at 4-3, but found her range with her serve to send down an ace and dig herself out of trouble, leaving Sabalenka visibly frustrated.
Rybakina looked in the zone and wrapped up the set in 37 minutes on her first set point when Sabalenka fired long.
Incredibly, it was the first set Sabalenka had dropped in 2026.
The second game of the second set was tense, Rybakina saving three break points in a 10-minute arm-wrestle.
They went with serve and the seventh game was another tussle, Sabalenka holding for 4-3 after the best rally of a cagey affair.
The tension ratcheted up and the top seed quickly forged three set points at 5-4 on the Kazakh’s serve, ruthlessly levelling the match at the first chance to force a deciding set.
Sabalenka was now in the ascendancy and smacked a scorching backhand to break for a 2-0 lead, then holding for 3-0.
Rybakina, who also had not dropped a set in reaching the final, looked unusually rattled.
She reset to hold, then wrestled back the break, allowing herself the merest of smiles.
At 3-3 the title threatened to swing either way.
But a surging Rybakina won a fourth game in a row to break for 4-3, then held to put a thrilling victory within sight.
Rybakina sealed the championship with her sixth ace of the match.
The finalists were familiar foes having met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of them.
Sabalenka came into the final as favorite but Rybakina has been one of the form players on the women’s tour in recent months.
She also defeated Sabalenka in the decider at the season-ending WTA Finals.
Rybakina beat second seed Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals and sixth seed Jessica Pegula in the last four in Melbourne.
Rybakina switched to play under the Kazakh flag in 2018 when she was a little-known 19-year-old, citing financial reasons.
The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2hrs 18mins.
It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis.
The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022.
“Hard to find the words now,” said Rybakina, and then addressed her beaten opponent to add: “I know it is tough, but I hope we play many more finals together.”
Turning to some Kazakh fans in the crowd, she said: “Thank you so much to Kazakhstan. I felt the support from that corner a lot.”
It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open last year for the second time but lost the French Open and Melbourne title deciders.
She was into her fourth Australian Open final in a row and had been imperious until now, with tears in her eyes at the end.
“Let’s hope maybe next year will be a better year for me,” Sabalenka said ruefully.
Rybakina fights back
With the roof on because of drizzle in Melbourne, Rybakina immediately broke serve and then comfortably held for 2-0.
Rybakina faced two break points at 4-3, but found her range with her serve to send down an ace and dig herself out of trouble, leaving Sabalenka visibly frustrated.
Rybakina looked in the zone and wrapped up the set in 37 minutes on her first set point when Sabalenka fired long.
Incredibly, it was the first set Sabalenka had dropped in 2026.
The second game of the second set was tense, Rybakina saving three break points in a 10-minute arm-wrestle.
They went with serve and the seventh game was another tussle, Sabalenka holding for 4-3 after the best rally of a cagey affair.
The tension ratcheted up and the top seed quickly forged three set points at 5-4 on the Kazakh’s serve, ruthlessly levelling the match at the first chance to force a deciding set.
Sabalenka was now in the ascendancy and smacked a scorching backhand to break for a 2-0 lead, then holding for 3-0.
Rybakina, who also had not dropped a set in reaching the final, looked unusually rattled.
She reset to hold, then wrestled back the break, allowing herself the merest of smiles.
At 3-3 the title threatened to swing either way.
But a surging Rybakina won a fourth game in a row to break for 4-3, then held to put a thrilling victory within sight.
Rybakina sealed the championship with her sixth ace of the match.
The finalists were familiar foes having met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of them.
Sabalenka came into the final as favorite but Rybakina has been one of the form players on the women’s tour in recent months.
She also defeated Sabalenka in the decider at the season-ending WTA Finals.
Rybakina beat second seed Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals and sixth seed Jessica Pegula in the last four in Melbourne.
Rybakina switched to play under the Kazakh flag in 2018 when she was a little-known 19-year-old, citing financial reasons.
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