NEWS

Baked lessons from 2022 yet to help Sri Lanka amid Iran oil crisis

QR code improves fuel distribution, but fears grow that protracted war will worsen forex control A man gets his scooter filled up at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 16, 2026. The country, like many, is facing a squeeze on fuel due to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.

By Nikkei Asia

• March 27, 2026 at 4:03 PM

Baked lessons from 2022 yet to help Sri Lanka amid Iran oil crisis Photo: Nikkei Asia

QR code improves fuel distribution, but fears grow that protracted war will worsen forex control
A man gets his scooter filled up at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 16, 2026.

The country, like many, is facing a squeeze on fuel due to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.

© Reuters
COLOMBO -- With global oil prices climbing amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and growing headaches for policymakers across Asia, Sri Lanka is beset with a sense of deja vu , drawing on lessons from its own economic crisis in 2022, and has reintroduced fuel rationing in an effort to prevent a repeat of the turmoil it experienced that year.