Sri Lanka, May 17 -- The Government will defuse a growing financial crisis in Sri Lanka's renewable energy sector, with over half of the nearly Rs. 10 billion owed to renewable power suppliers expected to be settled within the next two weeks, energy officials said yesterday.

This is part of the Government's broader strategy to generate 70 percent of the country's electricity demand through renewable energy sources by 2030 while reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said a substantial portion of the outstanding dues - likely to exceed 50 percent of the nearly Rs. 10 billion owed to renewable energy developers - would be released "within days or over the next two weeks".

"The Treasury will ...