Cabinet nod to repurpose US $ 100mn AIIB project financing to purchase essential medicine

The Cabinet has cleared a proposal to repurpose US $ 100 million project financing granted by China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to procure essential medicines and medical supplies amid the acute foreign exchange shortage faced by Sri Lanka. 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Minister, on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to revise the scope of the AIIB-funded Colombo Urban Regeneration and Reduction of Landslide Vulnerability projects to divert the funds for this purpose.

Accordingly, US $ 70 million from the Colombo Urban Regeneration project and US $ 30 million from the Landslide Vulnerability Mitigation project are to be diverted for the purchase of essential medicines and medical supplies by the Health Ministry.

The US $ 200 million Colombo Urban Regeneration project was originally aimed at improving the housing conditions of low-income communities and increasing land use efficiency in Colombo through investments in the construction of affordable housing and redevelopment of land, with associated policy and system enhancements.

The US $ 80 Reduction of Landslide Vulnerability project was originally designed to reduce the risk and damage from landslides through the implementation of mitigation measures and enhancement of policy and regulation associated with landslide management.