Japan halts 12 JAICA projects in Sri Lanka until IMF provides roadmap: minister
ECONOMYNEXT – Japan has halted 12 projects under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Sri Lanka until the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides a roadmap to the crisis-hit island, a top minister said.
“Twelve projects funded by Japan under JICA will be suspended until the IMF establishes a roadmap on Sri Lanka’s debts and its sustainability because the country has been declared bankrupt,” Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament on Wednesday August 10.
Sri Lanka’s relations with Japan was tested in the last two years after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was closer to China scrapped a JICA-funded light railway transit (LRT) project claiming it was too expensive and unilaterally cancelled a 500 million US dollars trilateral deal with India and Japan to develop the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port.
The LRT project was a 1.5 billion US dollar soft-loan project that would have solved some of the traffic issues in the Malabe corridor.
Sri Lanka has recently been trying to rebuild relations with Japan who previously poured many millions of dollars in funds to the country.
Sri Lanka president orders immediate termination of Japan-funded light rail project
Japan firm claims damages of Rs5.8bn from Sri Lanka after LRT deal scrapped
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in the post-independent era. Many countries have pledged help but said only they can do that once Sri Lanka ensures an IMF programme after renegotiations with its creditors. (Colombo/Aug10/2022)
