Asia
Bankrupt Sri Lanka opens IMF talks, begins shutdown
4 years agoRiot police use tear gas to disperse university students during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the country's crippling economic crisis, near the parliament building in Colombo on May 5, 2022. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP)
Sri Lanka closed schools and halted non-essential government services on Monday, starting a two-week shutdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel reserves as the IMF opened talks with Colombo on a possible bailout.