Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday instructed officials to utilize the COVID-19 social security fund to purchase essential medicines as the country faces a severe shortage of drugs amid an economic crisis.

In a statement, the President's Media Division said Rajapaksa had instructed the utilization of an estimated $600,000 from the COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund, collected from donors during the pandemic within the past two years, to import essential medicines for hospitals.

The president said since the pandemic is under control in the South Asian country, the fund could be used for other healthcare needs. Sri Lanka is in the middle of its worst ever economic crisis due to a foreign exchange shortage, which has led to a lack of essentials such as medicines, fuel and food.