ADB loan for RI roads

ADB loan for RI roads

MANILA (Agencies): The Asian Development Bank said yesterday it approved a US$180 million loan to improve roads in the eastern part of Indonesia.

The money will help finance the government's public works program to improve national and provincial roads in 13 provinces, enabling them to catch up with faster-growing parts of the country, the Manila-based bank said in a statement.

The loan, from the bank's ordinary capital resources, is repayable in 24 years.

The ADB also approved a $157-million loan and two technical assistance grants worth $1 million to China for an environmental protection project aimed at enhancing environmental management and expand natural gas distribution to address the pollution problem caused by China's increasing reliance on coal-fired plants to power its fast-paced economic growth.

The bank said it is also investing an additional $417,000 in Lanka Ventures Ltd., a Sri Lankan venture capital company.