WB lends Malaysia $300m

WB lends Malaysia $300m

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The World Bank approved a $300 million
loan on Thursday for Malaysia and said the money would help ease
the social costs of Asia's economic flu.

The bank said the loan, to be paid in a single instalment,
would give Malaysia the budget flexibility it needs to maintain
existing spending on health and education and step up the scope
of programs to reduce poverty in rural areas.

"Over the past decades Malaysia has made spectacular gains in
economic growth and reduction of poverty," country director Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement.

"We want to help Malaysia protect those gains by improving
economic conditions, stimulating growth and extending assistance
to those most vulnerable to the effects of the region's economic
crisis."

The bank said the loan, the first World Bank credit to
Malaysia for four years, was part of a broad regional strategy to
ease the social costs of Asia's economic crisis.