Japan regains spot as Sri Lanka’s top lender in 2010

Wednesday, 8 June 2011 01:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Japan regained its place as Sri Lanka’s biggest single lender in 2010, overtaking China and the Asian Development Bank, the treasury said Tuesday.

Japan lent $ 4.3 billion for 197 projects last year, of the total $ 1.85 billion foreign aid, the Finance Ministry said in its 2010 annual report.

China, Sri Lanka’s key political ally, had lent Rs. 56 billion for 10 projects, the ministry said without elaborating on details of the projects lent to. China emerged the highest lender in 2009, with $ 1.2 billion.

The Treasury said about $ 2.1 billion dollars were committed by development partners by end 2010 to rebuild roads, rail, power, hospital, water supply and help resettle refugees in the war-torn north and east.

“The total cost of the development activities carried out by the Government in 2010 in the north and east amounted to Rs. 45 billion, which is about one per cent of Gross Domestic Product,” the report said.

“These will also create sustainable employment opportunities for the affected people in their respective areas.”

It said China was lending $ 423 million to repair main roads including a 153 kilometre stretch on the main A-9 highway that links the south of the island to the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The Asian Development Bank and France’s AFD was financing a $ 135 million water supply and sanitation project in the former Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi.

The Manila-based ADB was also giving another $154 million for roads. Neighbouring India was financing three railway tracks with $416.4 million.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Australia, Japan, USA and India were also supporting a number of programmes that directly helped individual families and the community, especially with outright grants.

Sri Lanka also spent about Rs. 1.4 billion in 2010 to remove tens of thousands of mines strewn across the northern and eastern region. The end of the war left over 1.3 million landmines across some 640 villages. “The target is to achieve a mine free Sri Lanka by the end of 2020,” the report said.