| Foreign donors raise Sri
Lanka tsunami aid to 2.5 billion dollars
KANDY, Sri Lanka, May 16 (AFP) - International aid to Sri Lanka for its tsunami recovery received a 500-million-dollar boost Monday when foreign donors raised their commitments to 2.5 billion dollars, the finance minister said. The minister, Sarath Amunugam, said bilateral donors, multilateral lending institutions and foreign non-governmental relief agencies topped their aid commitments during a meeting to review tsunami reconstruction efforts. "I am very happy to say that we have had to revise upwards our tsunami aid amount after today's sessions focussing on tsunami recovery," Amunugama told reporters. He said direct assistance amounted to 2.2 billion dollars, over and above the two billion dollars they had originally received after the December 26 tsunamis that killed nearly 31,000 people and left a million homeless. Sri Lanka will also benefit from foreign debt forgiveness and debt rescheduling that would lead to a saving of another 300 million dollars for the country of 19.5 million people. The two-day meet is due to take up Sri Lanka's other aid programs Tuesday when the government is expected to unveil its overall development strategy amid reports that 40 percent of the people were living below the poverty line. The two-day Sri Lanka Development Forum was not intended as an aid-pledging conference, but Amunugama said countries participating in the discussions firmed up their original offers. Some topped earlier commitments. The Dutch ambassador to Sri Lanka, Susan Blankheart, said they were keen that the government enter into an aid-sharing deal with Tamil Tiger rebels to speed up delivery of assistance. "If such a mechanism is in place, we can increase the amount of aid that is available to Sri Lanka," Blankheart said. aj/it AFP 161624 GMT 05 05 Copyright (c) 2005 Agence France-Presse
|