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WB provides Uzbekistan with loans worth Dollar 414M
Tashkent, Uzbekistan - The WB regional director for Central Asia Saroj Kumar Jha and the Uzbek First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Rustam Azimov signed two loan agreements worth $ 414 million.
The agreements were signed in Urgench, the administrative center of Khorezm region, Uzbekistan during the international conference entitled "Development of cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to mitigate environmental catastrophe consequences".
WB allocated $264 million for the water management improvement project in South Karakalpakstan worth $337.4 million. Around $242.5 million is allocated from the International Development Association (IDA is part of the World Bank) in the form of an interest-free loan for 25 years with a grace period of five years. The WB rest loan worth $18.29 million was allocated from the structural unit of the bank - the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for a period of 25 years with a five-year grace period at an interest rate based on LIBOR rate.
The dependence of farmers in the project area on the use of energy-intensive pumping stations will be removed as part of the project.
As a result, the annual saving of water resources will hit about 10 million cubic meters. The project implementation period is until 2021.
The IBRD issued the second loan worth $ 150 million for the horticulture development project worth $183.3 million.
The loan will be allocated for 25 years with a five-year grace period at an interest rate based on a LIBOR rate. The project envisages the support for the development of small and medium agricultural enterprises in Uzbekistan.
Besides the loan agreements, Saroj Kumar Jha and Rustam Azimov signed an agreement on the allocation of grant funds worth $49.9 million for the development of the school and pre-school education.
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The bank's activity in the country is aimed at improving people's livelihood through support for economic reforms, modernization of the infrastructure and the social sectors, providing the Uzbek government and people with knowledge and experience.