Sri Lanka to get $65 mn more from USAID

Colombo (News 1st) -   Building on the USAID Administrator Samantha Powers’s recent visit, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung announced today that the United States, through USAID, will provide an additional estimated $65 million (more than 23 billion Sri Lankan rupees) in assistance to Sri Lanka over a five-year period. The assistance falls under the Development Objectives Assistance Agreement (DOAG) signed by Mr. Gabriel Grau, Mission Director for USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives and Mr. Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies.

This funding is in addition to over $60 million (21 billion Sri Lankan rupees) of new humanitarian and fertilizer assistance that Administrator Power announced last week in response to the current economic and political crises in Sri Lanka

In celebration of the start of this new bilateral agreement, Ambassador Julie Chung remarked, “The United States and the American people are proud of our enduring and robust partnership with the people and government of Sri Lanka. We remain fully committed to supporting locally led initiatives to advance a stable, prosperous, and peaceful Sri Lanka – critical to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all nations are connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure,”

The U.S., through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is committed to supporting Sri Lanka to advance market-driven growth, environmental sustainability and resilience, and good governance. All USAID funding for Sri Lanka is provided as gifts or grants and is implemented by local and international organizations that adhere to strict monitoring standards.

The U.S. has provided more than $2 billion (approximately 720 billion Sri Lankan rupees) in development assistance to Sri Lanka since 1956.