The World Bank has approved a concessionary loan of $200 million to Sri Lanka for health sector development.
The project will provide approximately $190 million to support the implementation of the recently prepared National Health Development Plan 2013 to 2017 and $10 million will be made available for implementing innovations to improve the quality of care and efficiency of the health sector.
The funds under the Second Health Sector Development Project (SHSDP) will help Sri Lanka upgrade the standards of performance of the public health system and enable it to better respond to the challenges of a middle income country.
Disbursement of this concessionary loan is at 1.25 per cent interest rate with a grace period of 5 years and a 20 year payment period. The project is expected to benefit the poorer and more vulnerable population groups who depend more on public health services.