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'.

Over half of 134 countries surveyed say they have introduced subsidies or tax cuts to soften the blow of soaring price rises triggered by the war in Ukraine, the IMF says.

An economic crisis unprecedented in the country's history since independence in 1948 has led to a critical shortage of foreign exchange, that saw it miss two coupon payments on sovereign bonds on April 18.

Domestic routes will be charged RM10 and international routes between RM25 and RM60, depending on duration of trip.

The transport shutdown came as seven-and-a-half hour electricity blackouts also went into effect, the longest scheduled power rationing in over a quarter of a century.