Sri Lanka may get US$300mn from new ADB fund: report

The Hapag-Lloyd delegation including, Capt. Prateek Gandhi – Director Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Faheem Mir – Manager - Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Lalith Witanachchi – Vice President, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Mindaka Dassanayake – General Manager, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.,Mr. Rohan Ranasinghe – Terminal Operations Manager, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Mr. Iqram Cuttilan – Managing Director, Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd poses for a pic with SLPA’s Chairman -Admiral Sirimewan Ranasinghe and the Managing Director - Eng. Ganaka Hemachandra. SLPA's Vice Chairman - Eng. Herath M.P. Jayawardhana, Director (Operations) - Mrs. G. Zavia Miskin and Director (Marketing and BD) - Mr. H J K U Kumara are also present.

July 23, 2009 (LBO) - Sri Lanka may get a 300 million US dollar loan from Asian Development Bank new facility to help stimulate slumping economies in the region, a media report said. A 30-year internal conflict ended after the military wiped out Tamil Tiger separatists in May.

"Sri Lanka is in an extremely favorable situation and the overall confidence of the international community is much higher," Narhari Rao, ADB's South Asia lead economist was quoted as saying by Bloomberg newswires.

"We are trying to push ahead on various fronts since we feel it’s just the right time to give resources to Sri Lanka."

Bloomberg said ADB's board may approve 300 million US dollar loan from its newly set up quick disbursement, counter-cyclical support facility (CSF).

Sri Lanka has clinched a 2.5 billion US dollar deal from the International Monetary Fund to boost the balance sheet of the country's central bank which was hit by an episode of peg defence till a float rescued it in March.

The first tranche of 312 million dollars is expected on Friday after IMF's executive board approves it. But IMF funding helps the American budget deficit rather than Sri Lanka's as the proce