|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Govt gets N1.6b World Bank loan
EVEN as Nigeria battles to defray its external debt stock put at about N32 billion, the Federal Government has again obtained a fresh sum of N1.656 billion ($120m) loan facility from the World Bank.
A statement in Abuja yesterday by the Assistant Director, Press, in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. M.T. Ogundoro, said the loan agreement between the Federal Government and the World Bank was last Friday signed in Abuja.
The Finance Minister, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala signed on behalf of the Federal Government while the World Bank's Country Director in Nigeria, Mr. Mark Tomlinson, signed on behalf of his institution.
The loan facility, she said, would be used to improve rural water supply in Nigeria. The project, she added, would be counter-funded with the World Bank providing the N1.656 billion soft loan while the Federal and state governments are to provide about N27.6 million.
The loan facility, the finance official stated, is interest-free and attracts only a commitment charge of 0.7 per cent. It is to be reimbursed over a period of 30 years with 10 years of grace.
In his remark at the signing ceremony, Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, said the Federal Government has since 1999 shown much commitment to the provision of potable water to the people.
Shagari added that the determination and support of the World Bank, National Assembly and Nigerians would ensure that at least half of the population have access to water by 2007.
In his comment, the World Bank country director said the water projects to be facilitated by the loan would help eradicate poverty in the rural areas while also improving health and quality of water supply to at least 50,000 households.
|
|
||||||||||||
