• Agreement to further economic cooperation between the 2 countries 
• New 2020-2022 framework agreement to finance projects 
• Concessionary loan with 0.15% interest with 40-year repayment period 

Sri Lanka has entered into a $ 500 million loan agreement with the EXIM Bank of Korea to finance development projects, the Finance Ministry said in a statement yesterday.  

In order to further strengthen the economic cooperation between the two countries, the Government of the Republic of Korea has agreed to provide concessional loans from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of the Export Import Bank of Korea (KEximbank).

Accordingly, the Government of Republic of Korea and Government of Sri Lanka have agreed to sign a new Framework Arrangement for the period of 2020-2022 to obtain loans through EDCF up to an aggregate commitment amount of $ 500 million to finance mutually agreed projects.

The loan interest rate on this concessional loan is about as low as 0.15-0.20% and the loan has a repayment period of about 40 years with a grace period of 10 years.

In addition, the two sides agreed to continue the Korean Exim Bank Representative Office, which was opened in Colombo in January 2016 by its Chairman, to further implement the projects in a well-coordinated manner.

The Framework Arrangement was signed yesterday by Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and Korean Ambassador Woonjin Jeong on behalf of the Korean Government.

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