25 November 2020 08:12 am
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has allocated US$ 220 million worth of funds to build Sri Lanka’s health system capacity and resilience under the recently unveiled country operations business plan (COBP) for 2021–2023.
According to the plan, ADB is committing additional financing of US$ 20 million to the Health System Enhancement Project in 2021.
The funds are in addition to the already committed US$ 50 million—including the US$12.5 million grant for the project during this year.
The project is expected to contribute to the government’s development objective to ensure a healthier nation by supporting the development of a more responsive and comprehensive primary healthcare (PHC) system in the country.
Under the new COBP, ADB also added a new project—Health Sector Development Project— to develop Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector by committing US $200 million in 2023.
In addition, ADB is also committing US$1 million as a technical grant in 2022, and further US$ 1 million as standby in 2023, for preparation and implementation of the Health Sector Development Project.
According to the COBP, the indicative resources available for commitment for 2021–2023 for sovereign operations total to US$ 2.07 billion.
The cumulative lending programme comprising firm projects for the period is estimated at US$ 1.78 billion (14 percent under-programming) or US$ 2.00 billion if standby projects were included (3 percent under-programming).
However, it noted that the final allocation would depend on sector portfolio performance, absorptive capacity, availability of resources, and project readiness.
The COBP maintains flexibility to respond to government priorities and the evolving situation stemming from the global health crisis while co-financing and funding from other sources are also to be explored.
In terms of sector shares, the indicative assistance pipeline shows continued focus on transport (30.5 percent), education (25.3 percent), energy (15.4 percent), health (12.4 percent), water and other urban infrastructure and services (11.2 percent), and agriculture (5.2 percent).
Sri Lanka, categorised as a Group C developing member country, is only eligible for regular ordinary capital resources lending.