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| Sunday, 5 October 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Donor agencies welcome increased pace of fund disbursement The three largest providers of development assistance to Sri Lanka -Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and World Bank - expressed concern about the slow implementation of ongoing development programmes, at the first quarterly tripartite meeting held in Colombo last week. The country directors of these organisations noted a recent improvement in the pace of fund disbursement and welcomed the increased attention of the Government on this issue and their determination to come up with solutions to improve the implementation mechanisms. The directors stressed that in designing such solutions, it is necessary to enhance management, efficiency and accountability of line ministries and agencies through rationalisation and focus on the core reform issues impeding efficient implementation. The other issues discussed were operational policies and strategies of each organisation, power and road sector development strategies, harmonisation of guidelines of environmental management and support for the North and East in the power sector. In the road sector, ADB and JBIC are presently the major external supporters for both critical reforms and physical investments. Since the Government is committed to major reforms in this sector and also because of its importance for growth and poverty reduction, the agencies confirmed their support for the sector, but emphasised the need for the Government to rationalise the sector agencies with the priority funding being directed to operations and maintenance of the existing road network at all levels. The agencies are ready to assist the North-East with resources and expertise to support rehabilitation and development in line with the Tokyo declaration. "We are committed to the ongoing projects while we are also preparing new projects, but we will closely monitor the progress of the peace process to determine the correct time for funding new projects," said a spokesman. |
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