The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday reviewed the progress of 261 large-scale development projects and called on the line ministries to take responsibility to prepare feasibility studies.

 “Project progress of majority has been very slow due to the suspension of foreign currency tied to particular developments and the difficulties in securing the necessary money due to the country’s economic crisis,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena told journalists yesterday.

He also said that the required facilities, authority and technical services to continue projects were not included in the objectives, scope, or roles of other relevant organisations. 

Against this backdrop, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has called on the line ministries to implement an institutional results framework and an inter-institutional investment outcome framework for 261 large-scale development projects as it has been recognised that there is a risk to the long-term viability of such enterprises.

“Line Ministries were instructed to prioritise projects and conduct feasibility studies with the assistance of the newly established National Data Operation Centre to explore if it was worth to continue considering the overall impact on economic development,” he added.

The proposal to this effect submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

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