Govt. to negotiate for USD 200 mn WB loan

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Cabinet of Ministers had approved a proposal to commence discussions with the World Bank to obtain 200 million U.S. dollars for social security programs, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena told journalists in Colombo that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had made the proposal in his capacity as the Finance Minister.

The Minister said that Sri Lanka had agreed to put in place a robust social security network to protect the most vulnerable groups in the country as a part of the International Monetary Fund-supported 48-month External Fund Facility (EFF).

The Minister said the World Bank had already agreed, in principle, to provide a loan of 200 million dollars to support social security programmes.

The discussions with the World Bank would be to finalise the funding, he said.