"But very other dollar has to be negotiations with a very very hard bargaining position. They will not give an inch."

Exim Bank gives loans at near commercial terms of 6.0 percent a year or higher with added fees which has raised concerns.

But Exim Bank's 'preferential buyers' credit' has long repayment terms of up to 20 years which is not available to countries like Sri Lanka from international capital markets.

Sri Lanka is now funding and building a sea port, an airport, a coal power complex, roads and railways in the island it is rapidly gaining on Japan, traditionally the island's largest donor.

It also usually brings the contractor and most of the labour with it.

India is also helping with grant funding to improve the livelihoods of war affected people in Sri Lanka's north. In 2009 China committed 1.2 billion US dollars out of Sri Lanka's total of 2.2 billion US dollars for the year.

Though Asian Development Bank was still a major lender, European countries were becoming less significant Amunugama said.

"The whole amount of bilateral from Euroepoan countries is peanuts compared to the assistance we are getting from India China and Japan."

"We have to re-engage the European countries."

He said Sri Lanka was put on the 'hostile list' by some European nations. Sri Lanka and western nations have uneasy relations over human rights concerns and civilian death in the last stages of a 30-year war with Tamil Tigers which ended last May.

Amunugma said Sri Lanka looked at India's and China's growth story and realized that money needed to be put into infrastructure like ports and road to boost growth. These projects generated their own revenues.

Sri Lanka was looking for large volumes of money to finance infrastructure, because the country was looking to grow at high rates quickly, but concessionary loans were not available in large volumes, he said.

As a result Sri Lanka was borrowing at higher rates and also from commercial markets.

Amunugama said the Exim Bank of China was willing to finance projects provided there was repayment capacity.

"Their main concern is whether you are in a position to repay," he said. "I think that is a good question.

"Their analysis of a project for which we have given a proposal is as detailed as and as tough any we would get from a commercial bank".