Sri Lanka spent US$4,072.1 million on fuel imports in the first eight months of 2026, a 61.6% increase on the same period last year, the Daily Mirror reported from Central Bank data. Fuel import spending from January to August 2025 was US$2,520.6 million — making this year’s bill US$1,551.5 million larger.

In August alone, fuel import expenditure was US$450.6 million, up 76.5% from US$255.2 million in August 2025, an increase of US$195.4 million. Of that, US$321.9 million went on refined petroleum, against US$202.9 million a year earlier — a 58.7% year-on-year rise.

The direction of travel is the opposite of the headline

Those figures are all year-on-year comparisons, and on that basis the picture is one of a sharply larger bill. The Central Bank’s own report points the other way on the more recent trend.

Monthly fuel import expenditure declined for the fourth consecutive month in August 2026, the Central Bank said in its External Sector Performance report for August, released on 30 September. EconomyNext reported the same finding.

CBSL Chief Economist Dr. Lasitha Pathberiya said fuel imports had fallen from very high levels in April, the Daily FT reported from the Governor’s briefing. Imports excluding fuel and vehicles also declined in August, partly for seasonal reasons, though they remained lower year-on-year.

Both things are true at once: spending is far above 2025 levels, and it has been coming down since April. The Daily Mirror’s account carries only the first.

Why August was better than the months before it

The fall in import spending was large enough to turn the external accounts around for a month. The external current account recorded a surplus of US$133 million in August, following four consecutive months of deficits — a surplus the Central Bank attributed to a lower trade deficit “reflecting lower import expenditure.”

That still left a cumulative current account deficit of US$291 million for January–August, which the Central Bank attributed to pressures from the escalation of the Middle East conflict. The comparison is stark: the same eight months of 2025 produced a current account surplus of US$2 billion, the Daily FT reported. August’s surplus was also well below the US$376 million recorded in August 2025.

The cumulative merchandise trade deficit widened to US$7.2 billion over the eight months, from US$4.3 billion a year earlier — an increase of roughly 68%. Imports rose 24.1% year-on-year to US$16.6 billion, while exports of goods and services grew 1.5% to US$14.1 billion.

The Central Bank expects the easing to continue

Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said vehicle imports had slowed — to US$189 million in August from around US$240 million — and that he expected the trend to hold, citing tighter loan-to-value rules limiting how much of a vehicle’s price can be financed by a loan, and a government surcharge.

The number of letters of credit opened in recent months, an indicator of future import orders, has declined. “This shows that future imports will be lower than what we see now,” he said.

Asked about the three-month extension of the vehicle surcharge, which a reporter put to him as a breach of an IMF continuous performance criterion, the Governor said the decision rested with the government: “Surcharge, duties and all that, the Government can consider.” He said the Central Bank and the government consult and coordinate, but the authority is the government’s.

Not reported

No source breaks the US$4,072.1 million down by crude versus refined product across the full eight months, gives import volumes as distinct from cost, or separates the effect of world prices from the effect of quantity. None states what the figure implies for retail fuel prices or for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s position.