The “Palmyra Fund”, intended to provide funds for the development of Northern and Eastern provinces, was established under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (27).

Addressing the event held at the Temple Trees, PM Wickremesinghe stated that the fund was initiated considering the request made by the parliamentarians serving for Northern and Eastern provinces.

Through Palmyra Fund, separate money allocations will be made for the development of the areas in the Northern and Eastern provinces, which were affected by the war, the Prime Minister said.

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera has made the budget proposal for the Palmyra Fund, which allows money to be utilized for the economic and social development of the north and the east, PM Wickremesinghe further said.

The fund starts with a seed capital of Rs 2.5 billion while additional funds of Rs 2.5 billion is to be allocated for the fund, said the prime minister.

In addition to this seed capital of Rs 2.5 billion, Rs 7 billion of funds will be spent on the north and the east under ‘Gam Peraliya’ programme, PM Wickremesinghe added.

According to the Secretary to the Treasury, approximately Rs 50 billion will be spent on north and east this year, he said.

Commenting further the prime minister said that funds are also available under Enterprise Sri Lanka for small-scale businesses to operate in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

“The govt will be giving employment to 22,000 graduates, so there will be a significant portion of them who come from Jaffna. There are other schemes under which employment opportunities will be founded. Funds that are being pumped into the northern and eastern economies will also create employment opportunities there,” the prime minister added.

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, Leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP R. Sampanthan, Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Harsha de Silva, State Minister of Vijayakala Maheswaran, Parliamentarians Selvam Adaikkalanathan, S. Shritharan, Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement & Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs V. Sivagnanasothy had joined this event.