The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to obtain an additional US$100 million from the Asian Development Bank under its Policy Based Loan Facilities, citing pressure from the Middle East conflict and climate shocks.
The decision comes on top of a US$380 million policy-based loan envelope that Cabinet approved in March for 2026, of which US$100 million was earmarked for the Trade, Investment and Industries Development Programme.
Ada Derana reported that the ADB agreed to extend a supplementary financing package of US$100 million in light of the worsening economic outlook from the ongoing Middle East crisis and climate-driven disruptions. The Cabinet approved the resolution placed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to take further measures to secure the loan.
The supplementary disbursement sits within a wider ADB crisis-response push. The Manila-based lender last week deployed a US$4 billion shield for 14 affected countries, including Sri Lanka, with US$3 billion in budget-support style policy lending requested by governments across the region and US$1 billion in reactivated trade finance for energy and food imports. ADB President Masato Kanda described the package as a deployment of “the full suite of crisis-response instruments” to soften pressure on finances, remittances, tourism, and fuel and fertiliser supplies.
The new tranche is distinct from the US$100 million ADB special package agreed with the Export Development Board in April to widen the country’s export markets, and from earlier project-tied loans such as the US$250 million water and sanitation policy-based loan approved in May.
Cabinet did not disclose the disbursement schedule for the new tranche or the conditions attached to it.
