The Government will receive funds from international lending agencies and humanitarian agencies shortly to restore supply chains and provide financial relief to people badly-affected by the economic crisis in the country, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said.
He told the media from Washington via Zoom, that over US $ 2 billion in assistance is expected over the next few months.
The Minister said the Government is concerned about the disruption of the supply chain of essential commodities and they were negotiating with lending agencies and humanitarian agencies based in the US to help Sri Lanka, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) consultations.
“The response to that call is very encouraging, already the Asian Development Bank has released US$ 21.7 million to buy essential medical items,” the Minister said.
The funds from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Indian Government will be used to offer financial assistance to badly affected people and ensure an uninterrupted supply of cooking gas, fuel and medical supplies.
The Minister said that in keeping with advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), they will begin discussions with the bi-lateral lending partners of the Government including China and India shortly to restructure debts.
The Government suspended repayments of foreign debt, including bonds and bi-lateral borrowing, pending the completion of a loan restructuring program with the IMF.
The Minister along with Treasury and Central Bank officials is in the United States, meeting IMF top brass to work out a bail out plan for the country leading to economic stability and ending the forex crisis. The move is also expected to boost the confidence of international business partners of the Government.
The Minister said the government team admitted to the shortcomings on the part of the Government and the negotiations with the IMF will be carried out in a transparent manner. “We are facing a huge economic crisis, this is a time to unite and overcome the challenges, not to be divided and look for individual gains,” he said.