ADB approves loans to Indonesia
ADB approves loans to Indonesia
MANILA (AFP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday approved loans worth US$332 million to Indonesia, China and Bangladesh to finance various projects in the three countries.
The bank said in a statement that it approved two loans totaling $200 million to partly finance water supply and sanitation projects in Indonesia.
It said the projects would benefit some 4.4 million people in Sumatra and West Java. It said $130 million will be given to Sumatra and $70 million to West Java.
It said the projects include rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems, sanitation, soil waste management, drainage, urban roads and market infrastructure.
Total project cost in the two areas is $344 million, with the Jakarta government shouldering the difference.
The ADB loans, from the bank's ordinary capital resources, is payable in 25 years, including a six-year grace period. Interest rate will be based on the bank's pool based variable lending rate system for US dollar loans now at 6.91 percent annually.
The statement said the bank also approved a $100-million loan and a $600,000 technical assistance grant to China for a telecommunications project.
"Development of an efficient telecommunications network in the PRC (People's Republic of China) is an important element in the transition to a market economy," the Manila-based institution said in a statement.
It said existing long distance telephone services in interior provinces and telecommunications access to wealthier coastal areas are "severely congested."
The loan is payable in 23 years with a three-year grace period. Interest will be determined through the bank's pool-based variable lending rate system for US dollar loans, which is at 6.9 percent.
The bank also approved a $32 million loan to Bangladesh to rehabilitate water control systems.
The project, which will upgrade about 400 small-scale water control systems in 37 districts throughout Bangladesh, is expected to boost agricultural production and augment the incomes of about 140,000 families, the ADB said in a statement.
Estimated completion date for the project is June 2002, it added.
ADB said the loan, part of a total project cost of $66 million, will be drawn from the Bank's Special Fund resources and will mature in 40 years with a grace period of 10 years.
Meanwhile, the bank also approved a $3-million loan to the Cook Islands Development Bank to meet medium- and long-term financing requirements.
The interest-free loan will be payable in 40 years, including a 10-year grace period, with a one percent annual service charge.
In addition, ADB also approved a $250,000 technical assistance grant to the Cook Islands bank.