Tokyo continued to be Sri Lanka’s top donor though it made no commitment in terms of fresh yen loans last year, according to a Japanese embassy official.
The official told the Sunday Times Japan’s assistance to Sri Lanka had averaged between US$ 200 million and US$ 300 million a year, depending on the projects while grant assistance ranged from US$ 20 million to US$ 40 million.
But in 2009, he said there was no Japanese Yen Loan assistance commitments to Sri Lanka even though grant assistance amounted to US$ 19.5 million as stated in the Sri Lankan Treasury Report.
The Treasury’s Pre-Election Budgetary Report for 2010 said the Chinese government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) were the three main donors who accounted for US$1,872.2 million or 84.3% of the total commitment in 2009.
The report, however, said the disbursement of foreign financing (money that was actually spent) from Japan stood at US$ 311.4 million. Thus Japan became Sri Lanka’s top donor last year, followed by China which provided US$ 294.8 million.
Explaining reasons for the zero loans last year, the official said heavy fighting in Sri Lanka raised some issues with regard to loans while the change of government last year in Japan also might have affected overseas assistant programmes not only for Sri Lanka but also for other countries.
The official said Sri Lanka and Japan had different calendar years which may cause some delay when reporting data. “The calendar year for the Sri Lankan government is January to December while in Japan, it is from April to March.”
The official said his country would take into account several factors such as peace, security and environmental concerns before deciding on a loan programme and these issues were brought to the attention of the Sri Lankan government.
The diplomat stressed that assistance from Japan was not for the Sri Lankan government but for the people. “We are continuously extending support to Sri Lanka for the enhancement of peace and also to contribute to the long term development of this country.” |
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