Weekly holidays have been extended in Sri Lanka for crop production

The Sri Lankan government has announced an extra day off a week to encourage government officials to produce food. As such, the weekly working day of public sector workers is being made four days. The initiative is aimed at encouraging them to grow crops in response to the country’s ongoing energy shortage and food crisis. The Sri Lankan government made the announcement on Tuesday. This information has been known in the BBC report.The report added that Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, was in the worst economic crisis in 60 years. The country has about one million workers in the public sector. The country is facing a severe foreign exchange reserve crisis. As a result, the island nation is unable to pay for important fuel, food and medicine imports.

Earlier on Monday, the Sri Lankan cabinet approved a proposal to declare Friday a public holiday for the next three months. The move is aimed at making transportation difficult due to fuel shortages and encouraging agriculture.

A statement from the government said, “It seems reasonable to give government workers an extra day off. Workers can all engage in farming in their own backyards or elsewhere as a solution to future food shortages.

The Sri Lankan rupee continued to depreciate, global commodity prices and the ban on chemical fertilizers (which have now been lifted) pushed food inflation to 56 percent in April.

Late last month, the country’s agriculture minister, Mahinda Amabira, called on farmers to grow more paddy, saying “it is clear that the food situation is getting worse.”

The Sri Lankan government is discussing a loan package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ease the crisis. An IMF delegation is expected to arrive in the country’s capital, Colombo, on June 20.