JICA pledges Rs14bn development loan to Sri Lanka

Aug 31, 2016 (LBO) – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to provide a development policy loan of 14.4 billion rupees (JPY10,000mn) for Sri Lanka's development agenda. These funds will be utilized for private sector development, governance improvement and fiscal consolidation. The loan is provided at a concessionary interest rate of 1.4 percent per annum with a repayment period of 25 years including 7 years of grace period. In order to improve fiscal sustainability, the cabinet has approved setting up a debt management unit under Finance Ministry and to submit a proposal to Parliament to repeal the Strategic Development Projects Act 2008. To enable private sector competitiveness, the cabinet has decided to draft a new Secured Transactions Bill that will included provisions to facilitate the use of movable assets as collateral for bank loans.