Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pledged 5 million US dollars to a South Asian emergency fund for anti-Coroanvirus activities, his office said.

Prime Minister Modi had proposed the fund during a conference call with regional leaders on March 15.

India pledged 10 million dollars to the fund.

Bangladesh had pledged 1.5 million US dollars, and Nepal had already pledged 1.0 million dollars.

South Asian economies had been badly hit by the virus, initially with a decline in tourism.

But economic activities are coming to a standstill in the region with extended curfews, while there are fears of the capacity of healthcare services to handle the crisis.