General Secretary of the National Peoples Power Tilvin Silva states, “The World Bank provided us with $200 million to be utilized, without us even asking for it”. He further emphasized that the World Bank’s funding was made possible due to extensive cooperation from international organizations.

https://lankacnews.com/%e0%b6%bd%e0%b7%9d%e0%b6%9a-%e0%b6%b6%e0%b7%90%e0%b6%82%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%94%e0%b7%80-%e0%b6%85%e0%b6%b4%e0%b7%92-%e0%b6%89%e0%b6%bd%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%bd%e0%b7%94%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%99%e0%b6%ad%e0%b7%8a/

Attending a television program, former Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi said that the sum was not a loan from the World Bank, but rather a grant.

In investigating the said claims, it was revealed that the International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank Group (WBG), has provided a financial facility of $200 million to support the economic framework and reform programs in Sri Lanka.

This sum was given as a loan, with the agreement signed on October 7 at the Presidential Secretariat. The signing included President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana (Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, Policy Formulation, Planning, and Tourism), and David Sislen, the World Bank’s Country Director for Sri Lanka.

The program was set to be implemented over two years, spanning 2023-2024, with the first phase of the loan becoming operational in the 2023 financial year. At that time, Ranil Wickremesinghe served as President, and the World Bank has also published a detailed description on its website.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/10/07/world-bank-signs-additional-200-million-to-support-sri-lanka-s-economic-reforms#:~:text=World%20Bank%20Signs%20Additional%20%24200%20Million%20to%20Support%20Sri%20Lanka’s%20Economic%20Reforms,-Share%20more&text=COLOMBO%2C%20October%207%2C%202024%20%E2%80%93,(DPO)%20for%20%24200%20million

The program aims to minimize the impacts on the poor and vulnerable while promoting overall economic stability. After executing the first phase of this initiative in 2023, Sri Lanka became eligible for a further financial facility of $500 million, upon completing seven key preliminary actions across three main sectors. As part of this agreement, the second phase of the loan has been granted to Sri Lanka.

In addition, the Presidential Secretariat has issued a statement confirming that this amount is indeed a loan. The EconomyNext website has also provided detailed reporting on this matter, clarifying essential information about the loan program.

https://pmd.gov.lk/news/sri-lanka-secures-usd-200-million-from-world-banks-ida-for-second-phase-of-reset-program/

Accordingly, Fact Seeker confirms that the World Bank has provided a loan and not a grant, noting that this is not the first loan obtained by the new government but is part of an ongoing program that has been operational since 2023, representing the second phase of the loan facility.