Finance Ministry to look at exiting $ 1.8 b LRT loan

Thursday, 1 October 2020 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

How Sri Lanka can exit from the $ 1.8 billion loan for the Light Railway Transit (LRT) system and whether it will have to repay $ 19 million already disbursed to carry out preliminary work for the now cancelled project will be explored by the Finance Ministry, a top official said yesterday.

Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle yesterday told reporters that the Government had already drawn down $ 19 million from an initial tranche of $ 130 million made available for the preliminary work and feasibility studies conducted ahead of LRT implementation.

“Every agreement has an exit clause, so we will be looking into that and negotiating the outcome with the relevant authorities. However, the $ 19 million that has already been spent may have to be repaid to the Japanese Government. However, that is still cheaper for Sri Lanka than repaying $ 1.8 billion.”