Mannar Island on the northern tip of Sri Lanka has been mooted as a major tourism hotspot that would use US dollars as its currency.

Newly appointed Minister for Tourism Diana Gamage has said that “we can make Mannar Island an entertainment location like Macau”.

The move comes at a time when Sri Lanka’s economy is reeling under the crushing weight of external debt and an acute shortage of foreign exchange for essential imports.

After the forced devaluation of the Sri Lankan rupee due to the economic crisis, the government has been pursuing every means to boost the inflow of dollars.

It is hoped that creating such a ‘dollar zone’ might be the first small step towards emulating economic hubs such as Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.