Ranil Wickremesinghe, the new prime minister, said in a televised address on Monday that the island nation had to face "unpleasant and terrifying facts".

"At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day. The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives," he said as quoted by Reuters.

Foreign reserves had come close to zero, down from $7.5 billion in November 2019, he added, with the country requiring $75 million in the next few days to keep the economy running. Essential medicines had run out.

Power cuts could extend to as much as 15 hours a day because of the lack of fuel, which is mostly imported.

Wickremesinghe said he planned to ask for foreign assistance, privatize SriLankan Airlines and seek parliamentary approval to increase treasury bill issuance to 4 trillion rupees (US$11.27 billion) from 3 trillion.

"For a short period, our future will be even more difficult than the tough times that we have passed," he said.

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