Sri Lanka, Feb. 1 -- The ongoing Sri Lanka and Iran 'tea-for-oil' barter agreement is now making strong progress and Sri Lanka has already settled over USD 20 million to Iran. "This agreement was to settle a total of USD 250 million for purchases made by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for oil imported from Iran in 2012", said Chairman Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) Niraj De Mel in a special interview with 'Daily News Business'.

In a bid to save draining of foreign exchange from Sri Lanka to service the high petroleum imports the then Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera and Dr. Romesh Pathirana talked to National Iranian Oil Company of Iran officials since 2019 to trade tea instead of paying in USD when purchasing fuel to protect loc...