Cash-strapped Sri Lanka announced it would sell long-term visas to attract desperately needed foreign currency after the island nation ran out of dollars to pay for food and fuel. Foreigners who deposit a minimum of $100,000 locally will be granted permission to live and work in Sri Lanka for 10 years under the “Golden Paradise Visa Programme,” the government said.
The money should be locked in a local bank account for the duration of the stay, the government said in a statement. “This scheme will help Sri Lanka at a time when we are facing the worst financial crisis since our independence,” media minister Nalaka Godahewa told reporters in Colombo. The government also approved the granting of five-year visas to any foreigner spending a minimum of $75,000 to buy an apartment on the island. – AFP
