ADB releases $325m in loans to repair tsunami damage

ADB releases $325m in loans to repair tsunami damage

Doug Wong, Bloomberg/Hong Kong

The Asian Development Bank will make as much as US$325 million of
existing and new loans available immediately to Indonesia, the
Maldives and Sri Lanka to finance reconstruction of areas
devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunamis.

An estimated $175 million of the funds will be redirected from
existing loans in the three countries, and as much as an
additional $150 million of new lending can be drawn immediately
from the Asian Development Fund, the bank said in a statement
today.

The bank said its objective is "rapid disbursement during the
coming critical two to four months."

Sri Lanka and Indonesia suffered the most deaths as a result
of the tsunamis triggered by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the
northern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis in Asia and
Africa has passed 120,000 people, with about 80,000 known deaths
so far in Indonesia, and more than 28,000 in Sri Lanka.

"This is an unprecedented disaster and we are moving quickly
to assist these countries in their hour of need," said the ADB's
President Tadao Chino in a statement yesterday.

The World Bank separately is releasing $250 million to aid
victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunamis, the United
Nations said yesterday.

The ADB said it has bank teams working to identify priority
operations and to lay the basis for more extensive reconstruction
work during the next six months.

"The immediate funding identified so far represents only an
initial contribution," the bank said. "Significantly increased
resources will be available as these assessments proceed."