Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (18) said in Parliament that due to the prevailing adverse weather conditions, the LP Gas consignment will now have to be unloaded via lorries causing a delay.

Litro officials said that USD 5 million was paid for a consignment of LP Gas for a ship carrying 3,700 metric tonnes that arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (17).

Accordingly, around 80,000 cylinders were scheduled to be distributed daily from Wednesday (18). However, due to the adverse weather conditions, they are only able to bottle around 8,000 cylinders a day.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on Sunday (15) held discussions with representatives of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on the current economic crisis in the country.

Although the country had received USD 160 million from the World Bank, the Prime Minister said that these funds cannot be used for fuel purchases.

"However, the government is discussing this matter with the World Bank officials and requesting that they allow them to use the funds for urgent purchases of fuel," the Premier told Parliament.

He added that the fertiliser issue is also being addressed as due to the war in Ukraine, there is a global shortage of fertiliser.

Responding to a question from SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, the Prime Minister said that the current information regarding the economy is incomplete and in some instances incorrect, adding that he will provide a full update to the entire Parliament next week. In the meantime, he requested those from the Opposition to come and be briefed on the situation in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera speaking in Parliament requested the public to not stay in queues as petrol stocks have nearly been exhausted. He said that petrol would be available for the public by the weekend.

"We haven't received dollars to get a petrol shipment released and the very limited petrol stocks need to be used for essential services. We are sorry for that. Please do not wait in queues as it will take another three days for distribution," the Minister added.

The Radical Centre founded by the late Minister Mangala Samaraweera has called on the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-Ranil Wickremesinghe administration to release all political prisoners who have been incarcerated for almost thirteen years as Sri Lankan Tamils mark Mullivaikkal Memorial Day today (May 18) commemorating those who died in the civil war that ended in 2009.

Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe is to be sworn-in as the new Prime Minister today (12) with cross-party support in the 225-member parliament, sources at the Presidential Secretariat said.

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to be sworn-in as the new Prime Minister, highly placed sources at the Presidential Secretariat said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will make a special televised address at 9.00 p.m. tonight (11).

Veteran trade union leader and left wing activist in Sri Lanka Linus Jayathilake, has passed away after a brief illness.

Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe warned that the country's deep economic woes could worsen further if a solution to end its current political crisis isn’t found “urgently.”

Sri Lanka's main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will not receive the support of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to form an interim government under the leadership of the SJB, a senior member of the ruling coalition said.

Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa -- who resigned as prime minister after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters and sparked a day of violence -- will not flee the country, his son told AFP on Tuesday.

The Black Cap Movement has called on the United Nations to directly intervene to protect basic human rights of Sri Lankans after scores of Rajapaksa loyalists launched attacks on peaceful protestors on Monday (09).