Sri Lanka expresses "relief" at U.S. exemption from Iran sanctions

Colombo, June 13 (Xinhua-ANI): The Sri Lankan government has expressed "relief" over a U.S. decision to exempt it from financial sanctions placed on countries that import oil from Iran, a top official said here on Wednesday.

Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga expressed relief over the exemption given to Sri Lanka since around 90 percent of the country's oil is imported from Iran with the remainder coming from Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The United States on Tuesday announced it would exempt seven emerging economies including India from tough new sanctions after they cut back on oil from Iran.

However, Weeratunga declined to answer questions on whether a decrease in global oil prices would result in a price reduction at home.

"We are not sure whether prices will remain low. Oil stocks that were previously bought at higher prices still need to be distributed so we are still discussing whether a price decrease will happen," he said. (Xinhua-ANI)