Launch of Knowledge Series on Leveraging Blended Finance for Sustainable Development by the Sustainable Development Council.

Today, we were pleased to launch the Knowledge Session Series on ‘Leveraging Blended Finance for Sustainable Development’ designed to facilitate knowledge sharing and learning within the National Working Group on Blended Finance established by the Sustainable Development Council.

The first session of the Series focused on Blended finance Concepts, Principles, Best Practices, Case Studies, and Regional trends and was delivered by experts from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission (UNESCAP) Financing for Development Division, Deanna Morris, Economic Affairs Officer and Anant Jha, Sustainable Finance Specialist.

Given the funding gap for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is estimated at USD 1.4 trillion or 12.5 percentage points of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030 and the constrained fiscal space in the national budget, it is critical for Sri Lanka to leverage alternative innovative financing for sustainable development.

Blended finance offers a promising solution to fund Sri Lanka’s sustainable development priorities. Blended finance structures can mobilize public, private, and philanthropic capital to fund long-term, high-impact projects by de-risking investments and attracting private sector participation and ultimately contributing to accelerating green growth in key sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, and infrastructure.

Experts have observed that the context of Sri Lanka could be conducive for the development of blended finance with the existing regulatory framework on sustainable finance and that diversifying and developing a range of financial instruments tailored to specific investment needs and sectors can significantly amplify the country’s capacity to attract and leverage private capital.

The National Blended Finance Working Group brings together both government and private sector agencies to work towards aligned objectives through targeted capacity building, mapping priority areas where blended finance can support investments and addressing barriers to attracting private sector financing supported by concessional funding from the government and/or development finance institutions, multilateral development banks and other stakeholders.

The Knowledge Session was attended by members of the National Blended Finance Working Group that includes representatives from key government institutions (Department of National Planning, Department of Development Finance, Department of External Resources, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Board of Investment, Ministry of Environment, Securities and Exchange Commission) and the private sector (Sri Lanka Bank’s Association, Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and SLYCAN Trust).

The Session was moderated by the Director General of Sustainable Development Council, Chamindry Saparamadu.

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