ADB awaits new govt. policies to plan out lending

29 September 2015 06:30 pm Views - 1531

ADB Vice President Wencai Zhang (C) addressing the media flanked by Sri Lanka Resident Mission (SLRM) Country Director Sri Widowathi (R) and SLRM Senior Country Economist Tadateru Hayashi
Pic by Kushan Pathiraja


By Lahiru Pothmulla
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that they were waiting for the new government to formulate and streamline new national policies so that the ADB could match their Country Partnership Strategies (CPS) with them to plan out lending to the country.

ADB Vice President Wencai Zhang, who arrived in Sri Lanka this Monday on a brief visit, told the media that the bank would triple its loans for Sri Lanka’s education sector up to US $ 1 billion over the next five years in line with the government’s plan to gradually increase education expenditure to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Apart from tripling loans for the education sector in general, he said they would also provide assistance in developing Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes and programmes related to secondary education.

He said in addition to usual investments in highways, water supply and sanitation, irrigation and energy, the ADB will also expand its operations into railways, for the first time in a country.

“We will also prepare a credit line for small and medium enterprises (SME) and is in discussion with the government for possible support for capital market development as well as policy-based programmes,” Zhang said.

Zhang met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and ministry officials on Monday to discuss new national policies and possible areas to focus on lending.

It was reported that the overall lending to Sri Lanka will see a gradual increase over the next three years totalling in more than US $ 2 billion. 

Meanwhile, Zhang said the ADB would increase its threshold of the amount of loans provided to developing countries commencing from 2017.

More projects in energy sector, agriculture, urban sector-related projects, investment projects and waste water management projects in the North and East as well as reform programmes are to be backed by the ADB.

When asked about the reports on a bridge between India and Sri Lanka, which was said to be funded by the ADB, Zhang said they have already supported regional projects as well apart from country projects but said there were several aspects to be thoroughly looked at before implementing such a project.
“If both countries had requested us and the project is feasible, we might consider implementing the project. But both governments should ask for the project,” he said.