Press Releases
The Government is ready to strengthen the firefighting capacity of the CMC.
With the present development of the Colombo City and its suburb, many skyscraper buildings with multiple floors are being constructed and hence there is an urgent necessity for ensuring the safety of these properties and the inhabitants.
However, the vehicle fleet of the Fire Service Department in Colombo Municipal Council is very old and incurring a significant expenditure for annual maintenance. Hence there is a necessity to have a new fleet of vehicle in order to minimize the maintenance cost as well as to ensure the safety of the properties and the inhabitants.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government has concluded a contract agreement with the M/S Rosenbauer International AG with a total estimated cost of Euro 10,317,000 (approximately Rs. 2100 mn) for Supplying of Firefighting Vehicles and Equipment for the Colombo Municipal Councils. 6 medium tank fire fighting and rescue vehicles, 3 heavy tank fire fighting vehicles, 2 heavy rescue vehicles, a mobile command centre and 3 aerial ladders will be supplied under this contract.
The UniCredit Bank, Austria, AG agreed to provide a loan of Euro 10.317 million in support of the above project. The Loan Signing ceremony of the above Loan Agreement with the UniCredit Bank was held at the premises of Bank Austria in Vienna with the participation of Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media, Director General of the Department of External Resources, Mr. Dieter Hengl (Member of board) and Mrs. Mary-Ann Hayes on 12th February 2019.
The Government mobilizes Rs. 8 billion (USD 50 million) from ADB for the implementation of Rooftop Solar Power Generation Project
The Government of Sri Lanka has entered into a loan agreement worth of USD 50 million with the Asian Development Bank to finance the Rooftop Solar Power Generation Project.
The main objective of this project is to support government’s “Battle for Solar Power Programme” to achieve the target of 200 MW by 2020 and 1000 MW by 2025 through solar power generation. Clean and sustainable power generation will be enhanced through the proposed project by increasing debt facilities and funding for the rooftop solar power generation, developing solar rooftop market infrastructure and bankable subproject pipeline. It is expected to add 50 MW to the national grid under this project.
The Department of Development Finance of the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media which is the Implementing Agency of the project, will coordinate with the selected financial institutions to provide credit facilities to the customers to purchase Rooftop solar panels from reliable suppliers who registered under the Sustainable Energy Authority. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Lanka Electricity Company Ltd (LECO) will support the project implementation by providing technical recommendations to the Financial Institutions regarding technical proposals of the applicants (customers) and reviewing and approving applications for connection of solar rooftop systems to the distribution network and confirming quality of generated power. In addition, customers will be benefited financially through one of the system among net metering, net accounting or net plus as a result of connecting solar electricity generated by this project to the national grid.
The total investment cost of this project is USD 59.8 million of which USD 50 million will be provided by ADB. Equity contribution by customers for the subprojects will be USD 9.8 million.
In this connection, Dr. R H S Samaratunga, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and Ms. Sri Widowati, Country Director of ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission on behalf of ADB, signed a Loan Agreement on 18th September 2018 at the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media.
USD 453 mn from ADB for Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program
USD 453 mn from ADB for Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program
- The Total Investment USD – 675 m
The Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program is one of the major ongoing investment program currently being implemented under the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank(ADB) The total investment cost of this program is USD 675 million of which USD 453 million will be provided by ADB under Multi - tranche Financing Facility (MFF). The Government of Sri Lanka has already signed two loan agreements with ADB to obtain USD 150 million to finance the first tranche of the programme.
Three major investment projects; Upper Elahera Canal Project, North Western Province Canal Project, Minipe Left Bank Canal Rehabilitation Project will be implemented under the above investment program. The construction of new and improved water conveyance and storage infrastructure under this program will increase the productivity of agricultural lands in the North Western, North Central and Central Provinces. Constructions of 158 Km canals including 38 km of tunnels are being implemented. In addition construction of two new reservoirs with storage capacity of 36 MCM (Million Cubic Meters) are also included in the program. Rehabilitation of 74 km Minipe Left Bank Canal is also programmed under this investment.
25,000 farmer families under Upper Elahera Canal Project, 40,000 farmer families under North Western Province Canal Project and 15,000 farmer families under Minipe Left Bank Canal Rehabilitation Project will be directly benefited through this whole program. In addition, provision of safe drinking water for people live in those areas will help to prevent Chronic Kidney Disease. (CKD)
Loan Agreement for Obtaining Financial Assistance of USD 50 million from OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) for implementation of Technological Education Development Programme
The OFID has been a major Development partner of Sri Lanka providing financial assistance to implement a number of strategically important development projects during the past two decades. Under current portfolio, OFID provides financing for road and irrigation sectors. The lines and working pattern of our workforce is bound to change with both emerging technologies and changing demand for skills. Therefore, it is necessary for Sri Lanka to align its education and skills development programme with emerging needs. The Vocational Training, Science, Technology and Research will be coming together for providing professional skills needed. The government recently introduced the 13 year mandatory education policy. It is compulsory to provide required infrastructure facilities and equipment with modern technology for practical activities as well as training of teachers. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education expects to construct technical laboratories and provide required machinery and equipment to the schools through the above project. The total cost of the project is USD 60.70 million. The OFID has agreed to provide a loan of USD 50.0 million in support of the above project. The balance USD 10.70 will be borne by GOSL. The Loan Agreement has been signed today, 3rd July at the Headquarters of OFID in Vienna, Austria by Dr R.H.S. Samaratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media on behalf of the Government of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director General of OFID on behalf of the OPEC Fund for International Development. Ministry of Finance and Mass Media Colombo 01 Sri Lanka On 3rd July 2018
Financial Assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the additional financing of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Line of Credit Project
The Government of Sri Lanka obtained ADB Financial assistance of USD 100 million in 2016 to finance the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) Line of Credit Project. The objective of the project was to strengthen the SME sector in Sri Lanka by facilitating access to finance and expand the employment opportunities in the sector. The project is being successfully implemented and given the importance of this intervention, the Government of Sri Lanka decided to obtain an additional financing through a loan of USD 75 million with the intention to scale up the ongoing SME Line of Credit Project.
The Additional financing will be utilized to deliver four outputs through the project : Increase of financing to SMEs through intermediaries, Development of innovative SME financing scheme, Enhancement of capacity of SMEs in targeted clusters for accessing financial services and Strengthening of international competitiveness of information and communication technology/business process outsourcing (ICT/BPO) cluster.
The additional loan of USD 75 million is planned to be disbursed in 3 tranches of approximately USD 25 million each. The Government will relend the loan funds in local currency to participating banks through three semiannual allocations based on the banking sector’s average weighted deposit rate. The proceeds of the loan will be available to the participating banks for relending to the SMEs based on the previously agreed targets between the Asian Development Bank and the Government specially focusing on first time borrowers, women-led SMEs and SMEs located outside of Colombo etc. Further, participatory banks should achieve SME on-lending targets before participating in subsequent allocations.
The Ministry of Finance and Mass Media will be the Executing Agency of the SME Line of Credit (Additional Financing). The Department of Development Finance will be the Implementing Agency for Outputs of Increase of financing to SMEs through intermediaries, Development of innovative SME financing scheme and Export Development Board will be the implementing agency for outputs of Enhancement of capacity of SMEs in targeted clusters for accessing financial services and Strengthening of international competitiveness of information and communication technology/business process outsourcing (ICT/BPO) cluster. The overall project is scheduled to be completed by 31st March 2020.
In this connection, Dr. R H S Samaratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and Ms. Sri Widowati, Country Director of ADB – Sri Lanka Resident Mission on behalf of ADB, signed the loan agreement to obtain USD 75 million on 16th February 2018 at the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media.