The decree will be in effect from Feb 1 until July 1.

With the country depending entirely on imports since April, the failure of a recent shipment to pass quality tests resulted in shortages at Auckland Airport, the country's busiest.

Unions in other industries and the public sector have also announced action to protest against the twin impact of soaring energy prices and overall inflation on the cost of living.

A coalition of gangs has prevented the distribution of diesel and gasoline for over a month to protest a plan to cut fuel subsidies.

Britain is battling the highest inflation among major advanced economies.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has tripled this year's energy subsidy budget to US$34.22 billion in order to keep some fuel prices and power tariffs unchanged and manage inflation.

The approvals for oil firms to be picked in the new process will effectively end a market duopoly involving a subsidiary of India's state-run Indian Oil Corp.

The country of 22 million people is unable to pay for essential import of food items, fertiliser, medicines and fuel due to a severe dollar crunch.

Lengthy blackouts are now a feature of daily life, while motorists have been forced to wait in daylong queues for scarce supplies of petrol.

With its foreign exchange reserves at a record low, the island of 22 million is struggling to pay for essential imports of food, medicine and most critically, fuel.

Oil cargoes that were due last week did not turn up while those scheduled to arrive next week will also not reach Sri Lanka due to 'banking' reasons.

The industrial action has disrupted shipments and production for the crucial steel, petrochemical and automobile sectors, in an early test for new President Yoon Suk-yeol who has vowed to deal with labour disputes 'strictly'.