Cash liquidity problem

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Jaffna was hit by an unprecedented cash shortage Thursday. Business and advance payments to government servants for the Tamil New year were affected by this cash liquidity crisis. The SLA is said to be flying in further supplies of paper money, said sources.

Meanwhile, doubts that a food shortage could occur in the Jaffna District has prompted authorities here to request a three month buffer stock of essential food items be built up in the local stores, said sources.

However, the request, a senior official in the Sri Lankan Government (SLG) told the TamilNet correspondent, seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

A three month buffer stock would have to include 10,690 metric tons of rice, 2,430 m.t of sugar, 930 m.t of dhal and 570 m.t of milk food.

K. Mahalingam, Director of the Jaffna's Planning Secretariat said that of the requirement only 35% of stocks were available.

Besides, of these requirements, only the demand for rice could be satisfied, and that only partially, from local production said officers. Sugar, dhal and milk food have to be entirely transported to Jaffna totally from outside the peninsula.