Workers at the Hambantota Harbor project in southern Sri Lanka
Reposted from the Colombo Page
The Sri Lankan government has received approval from the Cabinet of Ministers to obtain financial assistance from China for two major infrastructure projects in the Southern Province.
Accordingly, the government will enter into the loan agreements with China’s Exim Bank to finance the second phase of the Hambantota Harbor project and construct the Matara-Beliatta segment of the southern rail line expansion project.
The Exim Bank of China has agreed to provide a loan of US $600 million and a Chinese Government Concessional Loan Renminbi Yuan 1 Billion (approximately US$ 157 million) to finance Phase II of the Hambantota Port Development Project.
The Phase I of the Project, under which the construction of the breakwater, approaching channel, harbor basin, stocking yard, roads and administration building were completed, was also financed by China’s Exim Bank.
The Phase II of the project will build a strong supplementary port to Colombo Port as an International Hub and support Sri Lanka to consolidate the status as a container transshipment hub in the Southern Asian Region, the government said.
The project to construct the Matara-Beliatta segment of the proposed extension of Southern rail line to Kataragama will be financed with loan from China’s Exim Bank.
The Exim Bank of China has agreed to provide a loan of US $200 million and a Chinese Government Concessional Loan of Renminbi Yuan 508 million (Approximately US$ 78 million) to cover the total cost of US $278.2 million of the project.
The project, planned to be implemented in three stages, aims to improve the transport system in the Southern Region
Stage I of the project includes the construction of the railway line from Matara to Beliatta, Stage II from Beliatta to Weerawila and Stage III from Weerawila to Kataragama.
Proposals for both loans were forwarded by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning.
Photo Credit: Google Images
