MCC official visits Sri Lanka, more grant aid promised
View(s):The US Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Managing Director for Europe, Asia, Pacific, and Latin America Caroline Nguyen visited Sri Lanka this week to advance the development of the proposed MCC compact – a large-scale five-year grant programme.
Visiting MCC MD Ms. Caroline Nguyen and Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H. Samaratunga (second from right) after signing the agreement flanked by US Embassy and Treasury officials.
The US is developing this compact in partnership with the Sri Lankan Government for the specific purpose of reducing poverty and promoting economic opportunity for Sri Lankans. MCC is an innovative foreign assistance agency of the United States Government established in 2004 that has signed compacts with 29 countries around the world, the US Embassy said in a media release.
During the visit, Ms. Nguyen joined US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Hilton at the Ministry of Finance to sign an agreement to provide an additional Rs. 413 million (US$2.6 million) grant to finalise compact development. This amount supplements the Rs.1.2 billion grant that MCC provided last July to support feasibility studies needed to develop a high-quality, evidence-based and sustainable programme and is in addition to the final grant amount that MCC will provide for the compact.
Ms. Nguyen also met with senior government officials, including the State Minister for Finance, Eran Wickramaratne; and the Minister for Highways and Roads, Kabir Hashim.
“We are pleased to partner with Sri Lanka on a programme that will reduce poverty through economic growth and improve lives in the country,” Ms. Nguyen said.
“This additional funding will support the final stage of compact development and help ensure that the programme will have the transformative impact that MCC and the government collectively seek.”
In December 2016, MCC’s Board of Directors selected Sri Lanka to develop a compact. Sri Lanka became eligible for assistance after passing 13 out of 20 indicators on MCC’s policy scorecard.