COLOMBO – Japan has agreed to grant five billion Japanese yen in aid to Sri Lanka for the purchase of fuel, primarily diesel, to continue the cash-strapped South Asian nation’s crisis-hit public health service uninterrupted.
Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the weekly cabinet press briefing on Tuesday (14), a grant worth US$ 35 million is to be made under Japan’s Economic and Social Development Program to enable Sri Lanka to continue essential and urgent health services uninterrupted.
The cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal by President Ranil Wickremesinghe for Sri Lanka to sign the agreement with the Japanese government, Gunawardena said
“The health sector is facing a huge financial crisis,” the minister said, referring to a severe shortage of essential medicines.
Sri Lanka has reached out to the international community for assistance and, according to Gunawardena, President Wickremesinghe had informed the cabinet that an additional 10 billion rupees had also been allocated to the health sector.
-economynext.com
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