Cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's recovery fund exceeds SLR 4 billion: Official

Colombo, Dec 19 (PTI) Cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's rebuilding fund has exceeded SLR 4.2 billion through contributions, a top finance ministry official said on Friday.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake constituted the 'Rebuild Sri Lanka Fund' in the immediate aftermath of the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

"Based on the update that has been received from the Treasury Operations Department of the Ministry of Finance, we are happy to share that as of today the total amount received is SLR 4,286 million, which comprises of deposits of SLR 4,263 million direct deposits into the bank accounts as well as SLR 23 million received in foreign currencies, signifying a total of over SLR 4.2 billion rupees,” Harshana Suriyapperuma said. He added that the amount equals USD 13.86 million.

The amount received in foreign currencies itself had exceeded USD 6 million, he said.

Contributions had come from well-wishers, supporters, Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, organisations, businesses, overseas Sri Lankans, and other organisations assisting the island nation at the moment, he said.

Suriyapperuma said the government was aware of the moves by multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and many other organisations to grant assistance to Sri Lanka for its rebuilding efforts.

The money received through the bank accounts collected through North America was ranked at the highest position, followed by donations and contributions received from Australia, China, and the UK, Suriyapperuma said.

The Sri Lankan parliament is expected to give its nod to the SLR 500 billion supplementary estimate later today to cover the recovery expenditure.

The cost of recovery is expected to be around USD 6-7 billion, according to the government’s preliminary estimates.

Widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse across the island nation severely strained the country's disaster-response capacity in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah. PTI CORR GRS GRS GRS