Sri Lanka is on its last day of petrol and faces "severe" medicine shortages as the country plunges into chaos, the new prime minister has warned.
The state has been embroiled in turmoil by an economic crisis brining deadly riots to the streets.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed prime minister on Thursday, said the island urgently needs £60million in foreign exchange to pay for essential imports.
"At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day," he said in his address to the nation.
"The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives."
Brits have been warned by the Foreign Office to avoid travelling to Sri Lanka unless it is absolutely essential.
Mr Wickremesinghe explained that two shipments of petrol and another two of diesel could provide relief in the coming days, thanks to an Indian credit line.
But the country is also facing a shortage of 14 essential medicines and power cuts could be extended to as long as 15 hours a day due to the lack of fuel which is mostly imported.
Sri Lankans are living under severe hardship in the worst financial crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
The country has suspended repayment of £5.5billion in foreign loans that are due this year.
While its overall foreign debt stands at £40billion. It is now facing potential bankruptcy, with half of this is due within the next three years.
Mr Wickremesinghe said he planned to ask for foreign assistance, privatise Sri Lankan Airlines and look for parliamentary approval to boost Treasury bill issuance to 4 trillion rupees, or £9billion.
"For a short period, our future will be even more difficult than the tough times that we have passed," he said.
Protestors have been gathering for almost a month to hit out against the government's handling of the economy.
More than a month of mostly peaceful demonstrations took a deadly turn last week when supporters of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stormed an anti-government protest site in Colombo.
Days of clashes followed between protestors, government supporters and police leaving nine dead and more than 300 injured.
Rajapaksa then resigned, leaving his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa to rule on as president.
Sri Lanka's economic crisis has come amid the Covid-19 pandemic, rising oil prices and populist tax cuts by the Rajapaksas.
The chronic foreign exchange shortage has led to fierce inflation and shortages of medicine, fuel and other essentials, bringing thousands out on the streets in protest.
Wickremesinghe's four cabinet appointments have all been from the Rajapaksas' Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.
But protesters want to exile the family from the nation's politics.
The new prime minister is yet to make key announcements such as the crucial post of finance minister, who will negotiate for financial help.
Former finance minister Ali Sabry had held preliminary talks, but he quit along with Mahinda Rajapaksa last week.
