IFC says ready to finance Lankan private sector during meeting at Ceylon Chamber

IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Ameena Arif speaking at the CCC, while CCC Chairperson Samantha Ranatungaand Chamber CEO Dhara Wijayatilake look on

Top corporate executives in attendance at the monthly Chamber Committee meeting

IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Ameena Arif says her organisation is ready to finance Sri Lanka’s private sector projects by providing mid to long term loans via a multiple of financing methods.

She said the loan component for potential partners would start from around $ 3 million, but stressed that those projects need to be ‘development oriented’.

Arif explained the IFC’s Sri Lanka role when she as the Guest speaker addressed the main committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, which consists of around 30 top corporate executives of the country and industry leaders who meets every month to discuss the status of the Lankan economy.

“Our program in Sri Lanka has been dimmed a bit in the recent years, due to the private sector being held back a little. We did not see such demand from the private sector,” she further said.

IFC, an arm of the World Bank, engaged in financing private sector projects and is ready to look at financing ventures in the areas of energy, agriculture, new tourist hotels in the north and east or any new and innovative development-oriented projects.

“We are also ready to focus on IT and tech startups,” Arif said.

She was also of the view that Sri Lanka needs to capitalise on its geographical advantage and also its status of being the most neutral country in South Asia to boost its economic growth.