Cyclone Ditwah donor conference in Sri Lanka still in limbo

Colombo, Jan. 30 (Daily Mirror) - The planned international donor conference to raise funds for rebuilding areas affected by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka continues to be delayed, with no fixed date finalised as of yesterday, government sources revealed.

The delay is hampering the recovery of affected communities and slowing the country’s broader reconstruction programme.

Earlier, the government said that the conference was scheduled for January this year and was expected to mobilise additional funding for recovery, with plans to spend 500 billion rupees in 2026. Of this, 250 billion rupees were earmarked for infrastructure, 100 billion for housing reconstruction, and 200 billion for business recovery in agriculture and other sectors.

Sources indicated that Sri Lanka is awaiting an assessment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), most likely by the end of January.

“No information has yet been received by the Emergency Unit of the Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding preparations for an international donor conference,” an official said. “The Emergency Unit has not been informed of any arrangements, requests, or formal communications related to the proposed conference so far.”

Weeks after Cyclone Ditwah, the government established the “Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund,” which has so far collected over 8.5 billion rupees from domestic and expatriate donors.

An IMF delegation is currently in Colombo to finalise the island nation’s fifth review under the global lender’s three billion US dollar External Fund Facility (EFF).

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next month, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department Krishna Srinivasan told President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during a discussion on Wednesday.