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The Government yesterday appealed to the International Community to make good its promises. Several pledges for assistance were made in the wake of the December 26th Tsunami. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told a media briefing that the Government has assessed the scale of the damage and made estimations of the current costs for reconstruction, and has identified projects. He said the government now faces a big challenge of providing adequate transitional structures. The minister said the government needed to go beyond the tsunami assistance phase and enter into assisting the economy of the country as a whole. TAFREN Chairman Mano Tittawella said multilateral, bilateral and NGO sectors and the domestic private sectors have made pledges. Tittawella pointed out that the total pledges made as of March 31 was in the region of US$ 2 billion. Speaking of the promised debt relief Tittawella said it was most welcome and commendable, for the current year this amounted to around US$328 million. “This will afford us some breathing space and help the Balance of Payments”, he said. Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama explained the immediate relief granted to the tsunami-affected. He said the reconstruction phase has commenced and is progressing satisfactorily and the government was on the "right track”. Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera said the Finance and Foreign Ministries are now working out a mechanism for the NGOs involved in reconstruction projects and that they were trying to capitalize their synergies to move it forward. Jayasundera said some quantum of the US$2 billion pledged have come in through NGOs, multilateral and bilateral agencies and other larger agencies. He disclosed that the Paris Club too had confirmed it would be extending a debt moratorium similar to what has been granted by Japan and the US. Dr. Jayasundera assured the exchange rate would not be under pressure as a result. The government is to hold regular meetings with the donors, to ensure complete transparency in the government’s reconstruction effort. The first meeting is scheduled from April 15-17 with the participation of former US President Bill Clinton in Kandy.
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