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.