Former Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera stresses that a fuel shortage is likely to occur very soon, with about USD 1.2 billion in fuel costs still due. Speaking at the inaugural discussion of the “True Patriots” movement, he highlighted the need to move towards a true patriotic ideology based on liberal democracy. “We are becoming a failed state isolated from the world. Before July 27, we must repay a billion dollars for a loan taken in 2011. In addition, around USD 1.3 billion in Sri Lankan Development Bonds will have to be paid in December this year,” he said. “When I took over as finance minister in 2019, the foreign exchange reserves in the treasury, which stood at USD 7.6 billion, after July 27 will fall to a record low of USD 2.6 billion, the lowest level in the country’s history.”