SL granted US$130.3 Mn; used US$57 Mn so far: Dr. Bandara

Sri Lanka has received US$130.3 million from the World Bank for the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project and only US$57 million has been used up to date, Project Director Dr. Jayasundara Bandara said yesterday.

He said the World Bank had made a donation of US$1.7 million USD and has granted a loan of US$128.6 million to Sri Lanka for the project.

Referring to the amount used, Dr. Bandara said US$22 million was used for the project and US$35 million given to the UNICEF for their involvement in the COVID-19 prevention programme in the country.

He said the funds would be used for project-related purposes only and all transactions were being carried out under complete transparency of the World Bank.

Moreover, Mr. Bandara said the use of the funds was allowed by the World Bank only after relevant documents for previous transactions were presented to them and added that the President and other higher-ups were supportive of the project. By Thisari Walawege