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Monopoly electricity supplier Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has reported a record loss for last year and said it would face a severe cash crisis this month unless it gets urgent cash injection. Monopoly electricity supplier Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has reported a record loss for last year and said it would face a severe cash crisis this month unless it gets urgent cash injection. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said a US$ 30 million loan linked to power sector reforms expired on Monday while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said a similar program loan of US$ 30 million will expire in June.

Sources close to the government say an unofficial request for an extension went to JBIC before the loan expired.

CEB made a mammoth Rs. 15 billion loss last year selling power below cost.

The government is counting on the JBIC and ADB loans, linked to power sector reforms, to settle part of the massive Rs. 27 billion short term debt of the CEB.

A spokesperson for the JBIC said the loan could be reactivated but that its board might find a long delay unacceptable.

However, the ADB country Director Alesandro Pio told LBR that the bank's board is "very unlikely" to extend