RI, Germany to sign loan deals

RI, Germany to sign loan deals

JAKARTA: Three financing agreements will be signed by the
German Development Bank (KfW group) with the Ministry of Finance
on Wednesday during the visit of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
here.

Totaling euro 26 million (about US$30 million), the deals
comprise euro 14.7 million of grants and a euro 11.3 million soft
loan with an interest rate of 0.75 percent per annum and 40 years
maturity, the German Embassy said in its release.

The funds from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and
Development will be allocated for basic science education, a
provincial hospital in the South Sumatra capital of Palembang and
rural water supplies in East Nusa Tenggara.

The grant-based basic science education project is expected to
provide better teaching materials, especially science teaching
kits to enable a child-oriented approach in science lessons at
primary schools.

The hospital project will be aimed at improving physical
infrastructure, medical equipment and quality of services at
Mohammad Hoesin Hospital in Palembang. --JP