Ethiopia, World Bank sign $289 mln loan, grant agreement

Aug 7, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Loan and grant agreements totally amounting to 29.7 million U.S. dollars were signed here on Monday between the Ethiopian government and the World Bank, according to a press release on Monday.

The press release, issued by the country’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, said Ethiopia received the 274.70 million dollars in the form of loan and the balance in the form of grant.

It said the money will be used to finance four different development projects.

Some 133.4 million dollars is allocated for rural electricity access expansion project, 87.3 million dollars for the road sector development program, 54 million dollars for rural capacity building project and 15 million dollars to support the financial sector capacity building project.

Ethiopia is sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous country and is ranked seventh poorest in the world. Its development efforts have to rely on massive foreign financing, covering about one-third of the country’s annual budget.

(Xihnua/ST)