The Japanese government has granted Sri Lanka 13 million U.S. dollars to aid the socioeconomic development in the island nation, a Japanese embassy release said on Tuesday.

"The government of Japan has provided a grant of 1.53 billion Japanese yen (about 1.38 billion rupees) for two projects aiming at socioeconomic development of the country," the statement said.

The statement said about 10.2 million dollars would be used to support Sri Lanka's balance of payments and import requirements while the balance is to be utilized to help the underprivileged farmers.

Japan is Sri Lanka's largest international donor.

Source: Xinhua