Mar 18, Colombo: On a request made by the Sri Lankan government China has urgently provided a concessionary loan of US$ 500 million with a term of 10 years, to help Sri Lanka financially to better respond to the current COVID–19 pandemic.

China Development Bank and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance signed the 500 million US dollar loan agreement today in Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Office, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said.

Treasury Secretary SR Attygalle and Wang Wei, Deputy Director, China Development Bank signed the agreement in the presence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Acting Ambassador of China Hu Wei and China Development Bank Deputy Governor Ma Xin.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa said the friendship between Sri Lanka and China has a long history, and they are true friends in distress and suffering, and have stood the test of history. The Chinese side has provided tremendous help to Sri Lanka's economic and social development for a long time, and the Sri Lankan government and people have this in mind.

“This time, the Chinese national leaders, the Chinese government and related financial institutions, in their efforts to fight the new coronavirus epidemic, actively responded to Sri Lanka's urgent financial and anti-epidemic needs, and made special arrangements as soon as possible,” the Premier has said.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa has thanked the China Development Bank Working Group for overcoming many difficulties and making a special trip to Sri Lanka to sign a contract under the circumstance that the international epidemic situation is very tense.

China will continue to actively provide assistance to Sri Lanka within its capacity, whether it is the current fight against the epidemic or the economic and social development of Sri Lanka, acting Ambassador Hu Wei assured.

The loan would be given to Sri Lanka with a maturity period of 10 years and a three-year grace period along with concessionary interest rates linked to 6 Month USD LIBOR, according to the Ministry of Finance.