Sri Lanka’s monthly oil import bill surged 149.9% year-on-year to US$ 886 million in April 2026, Central Bank data show, as the conflict in the Middle East pushed global crude higher and forced the country to buy at elevated prices.
April fuel imports alone accounted for 36% of the total $2,457 million spent on merchandise imports that month, the central bank said, attributing the spike to “the surge in fuel prices in the global markets amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and higher import volumes.”
The combined March–April fuel bill stood at $1,516.3 million, 112% higher than the same two months in 2025. For the first four months of 2026, fuel imports reached $2,167.7 million, against $1,411.4 million in January–April 2025 — already 53.6% of the entire 2025 oil-import outlay, with eight months still to run.
The April figure underscores how quickly the post-restructuring current-account surplus has flipped to deficit once Middle East shipping risk premiums and higher world prices fed through to the CPC import slate. CPC has already disclosed sharp per-litre losses on petrol, diesel and kerosene at the present retail prices, even after the global benchmark fell back from peak levels.
The widened fuel bill is the main fiscal pressure behind President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s warning of a renewed dollar-crisis risk and his push for an Investment Protection Act to attract FDI. With reserves cushion already drawing on a PBoC swap, authorities are also banking on a next crude shipment due May 31 to keep stocks through September.
Source: EconomyNext.
