Washington, April 1, 2003-As Sri Lanka stands at a critical juncture of its history the World Bank's Board of Directors today discussed a new strategy to support the government's development objectives as outlined in its Poverty Reduction Strategy, "Regaining Sri Lanka: Vision and Strategy for Accelerated Development."
The Sri Lanka Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) outlines a program which includes US$800 million of new assistance, in the form of grants and interest-free loans from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) over the next four years. This amount is significantly higher than IDA lending to Sri Lanka over the last five years-which averaged about US$60 million per year.
"Sri Lanka now has the opportunity to embark on a path of sustained peace, more rapid economic growth, and poverty reduction that will benefit the entire population," said World Bank Country Director Peter Harrold. "This new strategy is a significant expression of the World Bank's confidence in the country's progress in these areas so far, and we are very pleased to be able to offer this support at such a crucial time."
The CAS is organized around three central themes: Peace, Growth, and Equity. It identifies peace and restoration of domestic security as the basis for the future of the Sri Lankan economy, stating that "without peace, there is no prospect for development." The strategy builds upon work the Bank is already doing to support resettlement and revival of livelihoods in the North and East of the country, through restoration of health services, irrigation, and water supply, as well as payments to displaced people who are returning home. To support short-term increased assistance by international donors for Sri Lanka's reconstruction and rehabilitation, the Bank will act as administrator of a North East Reconstruction Fund (NERF).
The CAS strongly supports the government's view that it is imperative that the peace process be accompanied by an equally determined economic reform process to unleash the strong potential of the economy. It will support the government's efforts to create an environment conducive to healthy growth of the private sector, which includes improvements in the financial sector, utilities, and regulatory capacity. Much of this support would be in the form of budgetary assistance, to help finance the implementation of "Regaining Sri Lanka."
Recognizing that economic and social equity is essential to sustaining development gains, the CAS will support Sri Lanka's efforts to improve access to and quality of public services in education, health, and water supply, and to empower communities to address their own development needs. The strategy places great importance on balanced development of the island, with interventions also explicitly targeting poor areas in the South. These efforts will help meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of internationally supported development goals to which Sri Lanka has also committed.
"The Sri Lanka CAS is special in that it explicitly focuses on achieving results," said Debbie Bateman, the World Bank Country Coordinator for Sri Lanka. "In consultation with the government, the Bank's country team has defined shorter-term goals to be achieved during the CAS period that are connected to the longer-term national and sector goals elaborated in the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy."
The last World Bank CAS for Sri Lanka was presented in June 1996. For a number of years, the momentum for structural reforms slowed in Sri Lanka, while the security situation worsened as a result of the civil conflict, posing high development costs for the country. In the last year, however, a strong commitment to both lasting peace and economic reforms, backed by actions, have significantly increased development prospects and paved the way for the very large increase in assistance indicated in the World Bank's new CAS.
|
Violations Committed
by the GOSL - 351
