The World Bank could hand out up to $1.5 billion in tsunami aid if need be, bank President James Wolfensohn said on Saturday, but cautioned he was "wildly concerned" about how funds are spent. Wolfensohn, who is visiting Sri Lanka and earlier toured the tsunami-ravaged south hot on the heels of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has so far pledged $250 million to a host of Asian countries affected and urged transparency in how it is spent.
"When we get to the question of reconstruction, what I've told the governments is that we're going to be there for them. We could ourselves go up to a billion dollars, without any great difficulty, in terms of new and converted funds," he told a news conference.
"On this occasion, I'm not wildly concerned about the money side," he added. "If you want a number, it's up to a billion dollars. If it became a billion and a half, I think we could probably do it ... I'm wildly concerned about how it is spent."
Wolfensohn said the World Bank was also considering debt relief, and would address the issue soon.
Sri Lanka itself has over $600 million worth of debt principal payments and debt interest due this year, he added.
Giant waves crashed into Sri Lanka's southern, eastern and northern coastline on Dec. 26, killing more than 30,000 people and ravaging infrastructure and coastal towns and resorts.
Sri Lanka's central bank estimates reconstruction and rehabilitation could cost between $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in 2005.
The tsunami hit more than a dozen countries, killing more than 156,000 people overall, two-thirds of whom perished in Indonesia.