Lanka to turn off street lights in deepening economic crisis; shares dive

Sri Lanka is turning off street lights to save electricity, a minister said on Thursday, as its worst economic crisis in decades brought more power cuts and halted trading on its main stock market.

The island of 22 million people is struggling with rolling blackouts for up to 13 hours a day because the government does not have enough foreign exchange for fuel imports.

“We have already instructed officials to shut off street lights around the country to help conserve power,” Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told reporters.

The power cuts add to the pain of Sri Lankans already dealing with