Sri Lanka signs US$ 989 million project loan with China for Central Expressway
The Finance Ministry of Sri Lanka has announced that the government has signed a US$ 989 million project loan with China for the construction of the Central Expressway.
The EXIM Bank of China has agreed to provide the concessional loan, covering 85 percent of the project cost of section one of the Central Expressway from Kadawatha to Meerigama, a statement issued by the Finance Ministry said.
Section two of the expressway has already commenced construction with financing from local commercial banks.
The expressway connects Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo with Kurunegala and Kandy.
Also, the expressway connects to the Outer Circular Highway in Colombo, the expressway to the main airport in Katunayake and the Southern Expressway to Hambantota.
According to reports, this is the largest loan Sri Lanka has received from the EXIM Bank of China.
OSL take:
The signing of the loan agreement between Sri Lanka and China for the first phase of the Central Expressway, which is a key project in Sri Lanka’s development programme. Foreign businesses could explore business opportunities in the Central Expressway project in the form of supplying equipment and material while also exploring the supplementary infrastructure that would be required along with the construction of the expressway. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore opportunities to be part of Sri Lanka’s development programme through the identified projects or by introducing and setting up supplementary infrastructure projects.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/25032019/Z_6 |