The first disbursement of US$ 250 million for budget support from the World Bank has been received, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe announced today.
Taking to Twitter, State Minister Semasinghe stated the first disbursement is out of the US$ 500 million budget support being provided by the World Bank to Sri Lanka.
In June, it was reported that Sri Lanka plans to enter into an agreement with the World Bank for $500 million in budgetary support.
Sri Lankan authorities received approval from the Cabinet of Ministers on June 27 for the agreement.
This is the biggest funding tranche for Sri Lanka since an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal in March.
Sri Lanka is emerging out of its worst economic crisis in seven decades and its economy is expected to shrink 2% this year before returning to growth next year, following last year’s record contraction of 7.8%. (NewsWire)