IFC says ready to finance Sri Lankan private sector

IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Ameena Arif says, her organization is ready to finance Sri Lanka’s private sector projects by providing mid to long term loans via a multiple of financing methods.

She said, the loan component for potential partners would start from around US$ 3 million, but stressed that those projects need to be ‘Development Oriented’. Arif explained the IFC’s Sri Lanka role, when she as the Guest speaker addressed the main committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, which consist around 30 top corporate executives of the country and industry leaders, who meets every month to discuss the status of the Lankan economy.

“Our program in Sri Lanka has been dimmed a bit in the recent years, due to the private sector has held back a little. We did not see such demand from the Private sector,’ she further said.
IFC, an arm of the World Bank, engaged in financing private sector projects and is ready to look at financing ventures in the areas of energy, agriculture, new tourist hotels in the North and East or any new and innovative development oriented projects.

“We are also ready to focus on IT and Tech Startups,’ Arif further said,
She was also of the view that Sri Lanka needs to capitalize on its geographical advantage and also its status of being the most neutral country in South Asia to boost its economic growth.