Sri Lanka closes schools, limits work amid fuel shortage

Schools are closed and public officials are staying home from work Friday in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan authorities on Friday closed schools and asked public officials not to come to work in a desperate move to prepare for an acute fuel shortage that is expected to last days amid the nation's worst economic crisis in decades.

The Public Administration Ministry asked the public officials — except for those who maintain essential services — not to come to work on Friday “in a view of current fuel shortage and issues in transport facilities” across the country.

State- and government-approved private schools also closed Friday amid the worsening fuel shortage, with thousands of people waiting in queues at fuel stations across the country for days at a time.

Sri Lanka is now almost without gasoline and faces an acute shortage of other fuels as well.

The government has been struggling to find money to pay for the importation of fuel, gas and other essentials in recent months as the Indian Ocean island nation is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Its economic woes have brought on a political crisis, with the government facing widespread protests.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa swore in nine cabinet ministers Friday, raising the total number to thirteen as he attempts to stabilize the government after a string of resignations.