Meanwhile, food costs continue to rise with food inflation at 57 percent, meaning many lower and middle-class households cannot buy protein sources, vegetables or fruits and have to survive on small daily rice meals.
The United Nations estimates that a quarter of the total population is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and up to 70 percent of households are forced to skip meals.
With a bailout from the International Monetary Fund still months away, the UN has launched a £33 million humanitarian aid fundraising program for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is suffering from its worst economic crisis since independence, with foreign exchange reserves at a record low of $1.92 billion, according to the Central Bank, although analysts estimate a lower level of usable funds.
The government has shut down urban schools for about two weeks from Tuesday and only allowed fuel deliveries to services deemed essential such as health care, trains and buses, as supplies only last a week or so based on regular demand.