Spain and Belgium loan 24 mn euro to Sri Lanka

Spain and Belgium are extending 25 million Euro worth of loans to Sri Lanka to build water supply schemes and reconstruct railway bridges, a top official said here on Thursday. The two proposals were approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, Cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters. Bank of Spain has agreed to loan Sri Lanka's government 21 million Euro under a buyers credit programme to construct a water supply scheme in the town of Ratnapura in the Sabaragamuwa Province. "This will be 85 percent of the total cost. The remaining 3.8 million Euro will be sourced from a local bank using domestic funds," he said adding that around 160, 000 people will benefit from the proposed project. In the second project the Belgian government has agreed to lend the Sri Lankan government 4.4 million Euro to reconstruct six damaged railway bridges, two of which are on the outskirts of the capital city. The two Cabinet papers were presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Finance Minister. Traditionally, Sri Lanka's main loan givers are Japan and India, with China topping the list since the end of a three-decade war in 2009.