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Wednesday, 6 November 2019 00:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka is not in the list of countries in the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) 2020 scorecard released on Monday.
Sources said Sri Lanka’s exclusion was after the country moved to an upper middle-income status mid this year.
They said given the fact that Sri Lanka agreement is pending since April, and given the widespread misinformation leading to opposition, there is a good chance that the country may lose the $480 million grant.
The MCC Board is scheduled to have its last meeting in December, where it will review the performance and select and deselect countries for 2020 assistance.
The $480 million MCC grant for Sri Lanka includes investments to reduce traffic congestion in Colombo, modernise the bus service, and upgrade inter-provincial roads in the centre of the country. It also includes support for Government initiatives to improve land administration.
Sri Lanka will retain oversight and control of all aspects of the proposed projects. Last week the Cabinet of Ministers approved the signing of the agreement on MCC, which has been pending and triggered much debate for and against. This prompted Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to make public the draft agreement, as well as assure that once signed, it will be tabled in Parliament.
The US Embassy in a statement too confirmed the latter. It said the Parliament will have ample opportunity to review the MCC grant assistance agreement, once it is signed.
“Consistent with the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) worldwide policy in all partner countries, once the grant assistance agreement is signed, the Government of Sri Lanka will send it to Parliament for approval,” it said.
It said during that review period, the Government will develop plans to implement the grant assistance agreement and design projects to improve transportation and land administration. “Parliamentary review and approval are required by MCC to ensure the grant assistance agreement has the support of the Government and the people,” it added.
The Embassy said the MCC pact will directly benefit over 11 million Sri Lankans and meaningfully stimulate economic growth.
The country scorecards released on Monday consolidate an individual country’s scores for each of the policy indicators MCC uses to determine eligibility for its assistance programs. By using information collected from independent, third-party sources, MCC allows for an objective comparison of all candidate countries.
