Sri Lanka suspends non-essential fuel supply amid shortages

The Sri Lankan government will ration the supply of fuel to essential services such as transport, health and food deliveries for two weeks from Tuesday, it announced on Monday.

“From midnight today, no fuel will be sold except for essential services like the health sector, because we want to conserve the little reserves we have,” government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana said.

The island nation is suffering from its worst economic crisis since it gained independence in 1948, which has left its 22-million-strong population struggling to pay for food, medicine and fuel.