COLOMBO: Sri Lanka closed schools and halted all nonessential government services on Monday, beginning a two-week shutdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel reserves as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened talks with Colombo on a possible bailout.

The South Asian country of 22 million people is in the grip of its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948 after running out of dollars to finance even the most essential imports, including fuel.

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