Japan to give Sri Lanka $1.2 mil. to improve infrastructure
Yahoo,
feb 9.
Japan will give Sri Lanka a $1.24 million grant to help the Sri Lankan government improve infrastructure in areas ravaged by its long-running conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Foreign Ministry said.
The money will mainly cover projects led by the U.N. Human Settlements Program to improve water supply facilities and roads in four northeastern Sri Lankan cities, including Jaffna, a ministry official said.
The aid will be offered through the U.N. Trust Fund for Human Security.
The aid is aimed at helping improve the lives of about 40,000 people who have been affected by conflicts between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the official said.
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Published: Tue Feb 8 22:33:40 EST 2005
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Sri Lanka wants 3-year debt moratorium after tsunami
stuff.co.nz,
9 February 2005.
TOKYO: Sri Lanka said yesterday it wants at least a 3-year moratorium on debt repayment following the tsunami disaster, rather than 1 year as offered by G7 nations so far, but it is not seeking debt forgiveness or reduction.
"We feel that recovery will take at least 3 to 5 years," Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama said.
This should be considered a reconstruction period after December's disaster, which killed around 40,000 people in Sri Lanka and displaced close to a million, and the debt should be deferred for three years at the minimum, he said.
Last weekend finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations offered to defer debt payments of tsunami-hit countries up to the end of 2005 without payment of interest during that period.
But Amunugama said: "The decision is for one year. We are urging that it will be extended to three."
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Published: Tue Feb 8 21:24:05 EST 2005
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