Announcement of IDA and IFC Assist Development Finance Company in Sri Lanka on September 15, 1977

•World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 78/12 SEPTEMBER 15, 1977 IDA AND IFC ASSIST DEVELOPMENT FINANCE COMPANY IN SRI LANKA The International Development Association (IDA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), affiliates of the World Bank, are assisting industrial development in Sri Lanka through t.he Development Finance Corporatio'n of Ceylon (DFC.C) . IDA is extending a credit of $8 million. The credit will meet a substantial part of DFCC's foreign exchange requirements over the next two years for lending to private sector industrial and tourism projects. IFC is planning an equity investment of approximately $200,000. • DFCC was established in 1955. In line with Sri Lanka ls pol icy, DFCC proposes to concentrate on projects which maximize employment generation and foreign exchange earnings. Other priority projects will be those utilizing local raw materials. The project being assisted by IDA and IFC is expected to contribute to the mobiliza- tion of domestic resources for investment and to the generation of emp)oyment oppor- tunities. The iDA credit to Sri Lanka is for a term of 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It is interest free, except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% to meet IDA's administrative costs. The proceeds of the credit will be relent to DFCC (9 Horton Place, Colombo) at an interest of 8% with repayment for individual subprojects over a period of up to 18 years, on the basis of a flexible amortization schedule reflecting the repayment terms of sub loans made by DFCC. -0- • NOTE: Money figures are in U.S. dollar equivalents.