Japanese govt., pledges support for production economy

From left: Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, President Maithripala Sirisena,
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Development Strategies and International Trade
Minister Malik Samarawickrama and Plantation Industry Minister Navin Dissanayake

Japan has expressed its support in Sri Lanka’s endeavour to develop a production economy, F i n a n c e Min i s t er Rav i Karunanayake said. Karunanayake accompanied President Maithripala Sirisena who was attending the G7 meeting in Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has offered a 38 billion Yen development loan to Sri Lanka for water purification projects to fight Kidney disease and for the development of the national power grid.

Karunanayake said the loan was a result of a previous trip to Japan undertaken by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and him last year to explain the condition of the country’s indebted economy. He further said Japan has expressed willingness to provide its sophisticated technical assistance to Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector and also made their interests clear about local port-related activities. Karunanayake said Sri Lanka is now getting long- term loans at low interest rates of 0.05 percent, whereas the previous regime borrowed at commercial rates. “This shows the trust international community has placed on Sri Lanka and the government,” he stressed.