The Cabinet approved a soft loan of EUR 9.6 million from the Bank of Austria, under the agreement of the Austrian government, to upgrade operating theatres and intensive care units (ICUs) of state hospitals in Sri Lanka.

A project has been designed to provide anaesthetic machines, ventilators for ICUs, blood gas analysers, endoscopes, operating theatres and networks of mobile lights to identified government hospitals with the objective of improving health facilities for the people.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Niroshan Perera, Acting Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, to enter into agreements to obtain the said loan was approved by the Cabinet.