The country is facing record inflation and a severe power crisis. From the beginning of this week, holidays were announced on Fridays in addition to the usual holidays.
Colombo, First Published Jun 17, 2022, 11:03 PM IST
Colombo: Government offices and schools in Sri Lanka have been closed for two weeks due to severe fuel shortages. The Ministry of Public Administration has directed all departments, public institutions and local councils to suspend operations from Monday in view of acute shortage of petrol and diesel.
The order states that it has decided to significantly reduce the number of employees reporting for work due to lack of public transport and lack of facilities to arrange private vehicles. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Since the end of last year, the government has not been able to pay for the import of essential commodities such as food, medicine and fuel.
The country is facing record inflation and a severe power crisis. From the beginning of this week, holidays were announced on Fridays in addition to the usual holidays. The holiday was announced to reduce fuel consumption. But the pumping stations were crowded on Friday. Passengers said they had to wait for days to refuel their vehicles.
The Ministry of Education has announced that all schools will be closed for two weeks from Monday and online teaching will be ensured if students and teachers have access to electricity. The United Nations has said it will provide food to thousands of pregnant women facing food shortages.
Four out of five Sri Lankans are reported to be facing food shortages. The World Food Program on Thursday began distributing food kits to about 2,000 pregnant women in parts of Colombo. It aims to raise $ 60 million for food relief efforts between June and December. In April, Sri Lanka defaulted on $ 51 billion in foreign debt. Negotiations are underway with the International Monetary Fund for bail.
Last Updated Jun 17, 2022, 11:03 PM IST
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