ADB loans for three nations

ADB loans for three nations

MANILA (AFP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday announced loans for the Philippines, China and Pakistan.

It said here that it has approved a US$23.5-million loan to cover additional costs for a road-building project in the Philippines.

The project was intended to improve 750 kilometers (465 miles) of national roads and cover the design of 700 kilometers (434 miles) of rural roads, throughout the country.

The bank has also approved two loans worth $292 million for expressway projects in Heilongjiang and Yunnan province.

A $150-million loan will go to the Yunnan project while a $142-million loan will go to Heilongjiang, a statement from the Manila-based bank said.

Pakistan will receive a $45-million loan and a $475,000 technical assistance grant for a high-priority bridge project.

The bank said the loan would help the government construct a 1.6-kilometer (one-mile) four-lane bridge across the Indus River connecting the provinces of Balochistan and northern Sindh, as well as eight kilometers (five meters) of access roads on both sides of the river.