Sri Lanka closed schools and halted non-essential government services on Monday, beginning a two-week lockdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel stocks as the IMF opened talks with Colombo over a possible bailout.
The country of 22 million people is mired in its worst economic crisis after running out of foreign currency to finance even the most essential imports such as food, fuel and medicine.
On Monday, schools closed and state offices worked with minimal staff as part of government plans to reduce commuting and save gasoline and diesel.
Sri Lanka is facing record inflation and lengthy blackouts that have contributed to months of sometimes violent protests calling on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.
Thousands of students marched through the streets of Colombo on Monday chanting “Gota go home” in reference to the president, whom they accuse of corruption and mismanagement.
“Gotabaya bowed with dignity long ago,” student leader Wasantha Mudalige told reporters. “Now we have to kick him out.”
Police arrested 21 student activists who barricaded all doors to the presidential secretariat building as it declared Monday, Rajapaksa’s 73rd birthday, a “day of mourning” for the nation.
Officials said the students had prevented the secretary of Sri Lanka’s finance ministry from attending a key meeting with International Monetary Fund officials.
But Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said talks with a visiting IMF delegation, the first in-person discussions since Sri Lanka requested a bailout in April, went ahead as planned.
Both sides said the talks would continue until the end of the month.
A financial rescue plan is not expected until Colombo agrees with its creditors to restructure its $51bn foreign debt, a process that could take months, according to Sri Lankan and IMF officials.
The country defaulted on its debt in April and turned to the IMF, which has asked Colombo to raise taxes and restructure losing state-owned companies.
Most offices in Sri Lanka were closed on Monday and all schools were closed, but hospitals and the capital’s main air and sea ports were still operating.
Hundreds of thousands of motorists waited in mile-long queues across the country for gasoline and diesel despite the Energy Ministry announcing that new supplies would not arrive for at least three days.
Australia participates
Wickremesinghe’s office said he had met with Australian Home Secretary Clare O’Neil to “deepen cooperation and assist Sri Lanka at a time when the country is facing very difficult economic times.”
Canberra announced $35 million in emergency assistance to meet the urgent food and medical needs of the impoverished island.
“Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in their time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
Australia is a member of the “Quad,” a diplomatic grouping with India, Japan and the United States that has raised concerns about China’s growing influence in the region.
China owns more than 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt and has invested heavily in infrastructure throughout the strategically located island, which sits along the main east-west international shipping lane.
The United Nations last week launched an emergency response effort to feed thousands of pregnant women facing food shortages in Sri Lanka.
Four out of five people in the country have started skipping meals because they cannot afford high food prices, the UN said. He warned of an impending “serious humanitarian crisis” with millions of people in need of help.