Ravi K confident of $ 2 b ADB support

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said Sri Lanka is likely to get $2 billion as support from the Asian Development Bank over the next four years. 

A new country program is being worked out between ADB and the Government. 

Karunanayake is in Germany to attend the 49th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in Frankfurt from 2 to 5 May. 

Other members of the Sri Lanka delegation include Finance Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs Secretary M.I.M. Rafeek, External Resources Department Director General R.M.P. Rathnayake and Director UdeniUdugahapattuwa.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake (right) watches Asian Development Bank (ADB) board member Diwakar Gupta (left), greet President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi at the 49th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, 2 May. REUTERS

ADB President TakehikoNakaoNakao who visited Sri Lanka in February first announced that his organisation plans to scale up its operations in Sri Lanka. 

“Together with the Government, the ADB is building a strong pipeline of projects and aims to provide over $2 billion in loans and equity in 2016 through 2018 compared with $1.5 billion in the preceding three years,” he said. 

Since 1968, when its lending operations started in Sri Lanka, the ADB has approved sovereign and non-sovereign loans totaling $7.49 billion (as of end-2015). The ADB has also provided $358 million in grant assistance (including ADB-administered, co-financed grants) for projects, and $130 million in 280 technical assistance grants.

The Annual Meeting will bring together around 3,000 participants including finance ministers, central bank governors and other high level officials from 67 ADB member countries, international organisations, private sector, media and civil society. The theme of this year’s meeting is ‘Cooperating for Sustainability’. (CDS)