First Round

Kandy - Sri Lankan received over US$ 2.







2 billion worth of financial pledges during a donor parley on Monday amidst stiff protest from Buddhist clergy against a joint mechanism to deliver tsunami aid to rebel held areas, officials said.



Kandy - Sri Lankan received over US$ 2.2 billion worth of financial pledges during a donor parley on Monday amidst stiff protest from Buddhist clergy against a joint mechanism to deliver tsunami aid to rebel held areas, officials said. Monday's pledges included US$ 1.



95 billion in outright grants, Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama told reporters at the end of the day’s session.

The two-day forum has brought together over 300 delegates representing bilateral, multi-lateral and new development partners to Sri Lanka’s hill capital Kandy to discuss the economy’s short term growth strategies, its post-tsunami recovery effort and their roll in the donor communities part in the entire process.

"This is the first time Sri Lanka has mobilised such large amounts of grant assistance," the minister said adding that: "It will strengthen the balance of payments and will not be a burden to future budgetary management because there is no debt service provision.

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Of the total commitments, bilateral donors