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The JVP held a protest in Colombo against the MCC earlier this year during the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The United States announced that it has withdrawn its offer of Rs. 89,000 million grants from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to Sri Lanka, “due to lack of participation from partner countries.”
the US statement It comes after months of controversy surrounding the grant, which has seen widespread Sinhalese nationalist opposition.
Earlier this year, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would not sign the grant “not even in his dreams”, while the opposition party JVP protested what it called a violation of Sri Lanka’s “sovereignty” . Meanwhile, Buddhist monks have started hunger strikes against the movement, Fundamental Rights petitions have been submitted and anti-american artwork it has even occurred in the south as opposition to the subsidy grew.
Senior Sri Lankan government officials and prominent candidates visited a Sinhalese Buddhist monk on hunger strike last year, where they all pledged not to sign the MCC.
“The Rs. $ 89 billion approved for Sri Lanka will be made available to other eligible partner countries that need grants to pursue their economic development priorities, reduce poverty and grow their economies, ”the US embassy said in a statement this morning. “Country ownership, transparency, and accountability for grant results are critical to MCC’s development model,” he added.
The pullout also comes as Sri Lanka is in the midst of an economic crisis that has caused international rating agencies to downgrade the country, and several major international debt payments are looming.
“MCC offers limited-time grants to developing countries that meet rigorous standards of good governance, from fighting corruption to respecting democratic rights, as assessed by MCC’s scorecard.” the MCC said in a statement Yesterday. “MCC takes an entrepreneurial approach, with fundamental commitments to data, accountability and evidence-based decision making.”
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