RI gets $159m ADB loan

RI gets $159m ADB loan

MANILA (AFP): The Indonesian education system and underprivileged students will receive support from US$159 million worth of loans for two education projects, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced yesterday.

A $110 million loan to upgrade 1,000 senior secondary schools and train teachers and staff in 3,000 schools throughout the Indonesian archipelago will be extended by the ADB, it said, adding that 14,000 disadvantaged students will receive financial assistance to enable them to finish school.

The government is providing $90 million of the total $200 million project cost, it said.

A second loan amounting to $49 million has been earmarked for the upgrading of private junior secondary schools, which will benefit about 216,000 students from remote areas and low-income households, the ADB said.

Both loans will be amortized over a period of 25 years with an annual commitment charge of 0.75 percent. Interest rates will be determined according to the Bank's pool-based variable lending rate system for U.S. dollar loans.