The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday agreed to start talks for a fresh $ 57 million funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) based on a proposal submitted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Government said it has been proposed to sign an agreement for implementation of a new initiative titled ‘The Programme for a Democratic, Prosperous Sri Lanka with the Ability to Survive Amidst Disasters’ with financing worth $ 57 million from USAID until 2026. The new program will focus on the fields of productive democratic governance, growth based on a secure market and strengthening the resources required to sustain pressure and stress.

In 2011, Sri Lanka and USAID signed two similar programs – ‘The program to strengthen the cooperation for democratic good governance and social integrity’ and ‘Program to create a sustainable and covered economic development’ – and successfully completed. 

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