Sydney, 21 June 2022 (TDI): The Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced Monday that Australia granted new aid for Sri Lanka as part of its commitment to the region.
With the intention to halt the actual economic crisis in Sri Lanka, Australia took an important decision.
In short, the economic support consists of 50 million dollars. The fund is meant to assess pressing issues relative to healthcare, food, and fuel shortages.
Sri Lanka’s Economic Situation
The Asian country is facing one of its worst economic crises in history. It is the worst crisis since it gained independence from Great Britain in 1948.
Its official currency is the Sri Lankan Rupee. Presently, it is one of the world’s weakest currencies.
Sri Lanka has almost run off foreign currency reserves. In addition, it faces a strong external debt. Furthermore, social discontent is rising and protests have grown.
New aid package granted by the Australian Government
Historically, both countries have shared good bilateral relations. The objective of this initiative is to directly help the Sri Lankan population. Moreover, if the actual crisis keeps on going it will affect neighboring countries.
The monetary aid is divided into three portions. The first one consists of more than 20 million dollars intended for the World Food Programme (WFP).
This will be used to meet the daily nutritional needs of more than 2.5 million people in the Asian country. The money will serve for emergency food assistance.
Secondly, comes a sum of more than 22 million dollars. It will serve as general development aid. The Australian government will give these funds in 2022 and 2023.
Finally, Australia has already given 5 million dollars to the United Nations agencies working in Sri Lanka. Some of the UN agencies present in the country are:
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), UN Women, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), among others.
The Australian Diplomatic Mission in Sri Lanka & Maldives shared the news on its official Twitter account:
We are pleased to announce that 🇦🇺 will provide $50 million in Official Development Assistance to support those affected by the economic crisis in 🇱🇰.
Follow the link below to read the official media release:
https://t.co/fkO6O9wARX— Australia in Sri Lanka and Maldives (@AusHCSriLanka) June 20, 2022
In conclusion, thanks to this aid package Sri Lanka will have more capable of getting out of this crisis. Health services and economic recovery will be easier to reach.
However, to fully recover from the crisis, the Sri Lankan administration must look for long-term solutions that must include strong reforms.
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