Sri Lanka bans private vehicles from filling up fuel

For the next two weeks only buses, trains, and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fill up with fuel.

South Asian nation is struggling to pay for fuel and food as a result of a bailout deal.

Without enough foreign currency to pay for imports of essential goods, an acute shortage of food, fuel and medicines has helped push the cost of living to record highs.

Over the weekend, officials said the country had only 9,000 tons of diesel and 6,000 tons of petrol to fuel essential services in the coming days.

It was estimated that the stocks would last less than a week, under regular demand.

Power and energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters on Sunday that they are doing everything possible to get new stocks, but they don't know when it will be.

The mobility appears to have been severely limited, given the long lines that people were waiting in long queues for fuel. He said that the ban on private vehicles goes one step further and will compound the economic pain.

In May, the country defaulted on its debts with international lenders for the first time in its history.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said earlier this month that the country needed $5 billion to pay for essential goods such as food, fuel and fertiliser over the next six months.