Plan by SriLankan Airlines to lease 21 aircraft draws criticism

A plan by Sri Lanka's state-owned national airline to lease nearly two dozen aircraft has sparked public criticism and opposition condemnation as the country struggles with its worst financial crisis in decades. Sri Lanka is struggling with low reserves that have declined more than 70% over the past two years to $1.93b at the end of March. The dollar crunch has caused acute shortages of fuel, food and medicines, with rolling power cuts for hours a day for more than a month. On Tuesday, Sri Lanka suspended some external debt repayments and said it would instead use meagre dollar cache to focus on essential imports. Protesters demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign have been staging daily sit-ins outside his office. Tender notices for the lease of 42 aircraft were published on the airline's website on Thursday. SriLankan Airlines has been struggling with a fall in tourism because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis. In 2019/20, SriLankan Airlines reported a loss of 44.14b Sri Lankan rupees ($140.90m) against 41.70b Sri Lankan rupees in the previous year. "This must be a joke?!," a member of parliament from the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) alliance, Harsha de Silva, said in a post on Twitter. "Sri Lanka is bankrupt; no fuel, gas or medicine. Where the hell is money for this nonsense?! Better immediately clarify."<br/>