WB to loan $26.8m to RI

JAKARTA (JP): The World Bank has approved a $26.8-million loan for the Sulawesi agricultural area development project to help alleviate poverty in the province.

The Washington-based bank said in a statement made available here yesterday that the project will be implemented over six years to 2002 to support agriculture-based area development and strengthen agricultural support services, project administration, farming systems and fisheries research in Southeast and Central Sulawesi.

The loan will be repayable in 20 years, including five years of grace, at the bank's standard variable interest rate for currency-pool loans. This is currently 6.98 percent.

The $26.8 million loan will finance about 63 percent of the project costs, with the Indonesian government financing 28 percent and the project beneficiaries accounting for nine percent through their free labor. (rid)