Courtesy Hiru News

Sri Lanka plans $ 6 billion in extra spending in 2026 to fund the country’s recovery from Cyclone Ditwah, which killed more than 640 people and affected 3 million people, and floods and landslides caused by the cyclone left extensive damage throughout the country.

The government convened parliament on Thursday, to discuss what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described as the most challenging natural disaster to hit the island.

The government has already asked the International Monetary Fund for $200 million from a rapid relief fund and has secured World Bank agreement to repurpose $120 million from an ongoing project for disaster recovery spending. On Tuesday, Sri Lanka also secured a $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to finance water management, the first such funding since the cyclone.

The Finance Ministry said the funds would be used to complete a canal network in the North-Central Province, which was among the worst affected by flooding last month.”The objective of the project is to enhance agricultural productivity, farmer incomes and climate resilience in the NCP,” the Ministry said.

The World Bank has said it is in the process of assessing the damage caused by the cyclone, while Colombo has said preliminary estimates suggest it may need up to $7 billion to rebuild. The cyclone struck as the country was emerging from its worst ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.

AFP / Yahoo News UK