Sri Lanka gripped in the middle of its worst economic crisis has announced it would sell long-term visas to attract desperately needed foreign currency, as the country runs out of dollars to pay for food, medicine, and fuel.

Foreigners who deposit a minimum of USD 100,000 locally will be granted permission to live and work in Sri Lanka for 10 years under the Golden Visa Programme, the Sri Lankan government said last week according to the AFP news agency.

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.

Acute shortages of food, fuel, and medicines have triggered widespread protests, with thousands of people camped outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s seafront office to demand his resignation.