On Monday, the Sri Lankan army handed out tokens to people queuing to refuel as the country faces its worst economic crisis in seven years with severe fuel shortages. Schools in Colombo are closed, and government officials are asked to work from home.

With its foreign exchange reserves at record lows, the island of 22 million people is struggling to pay for food, medicine and, most importantly, fuel imports. It is unclear how far the government can expand its fuel reserves.
On Sunday, the Electricity and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said: stocks stood at around 9,000 tonnes of diesel and 6,000 tonnes of gasoline, but no new cargoes are due.

The government has told employees to work from home until further notice, while schools have been closed for a week in the commercial capital Colombo and surrounding areas. Queues at gas stations have increased rapidly since last week.

Public transport, power generation and medical services will be prioritised for fuel distribution, with some going to ports and airports. An IMF team is visiting Sri Lanka to negotiate a $3 billion bailout package.

While the Indian Ocean nations hope to reach an employee-level deal by the end of the visit on Thursday, it is unlikely that any funds will be released immediately.