The World Bank (WB) will provide 150 million USD as preferential credit loan for Vietnam’s poverty reduction and economic development programmes.
Under an agreement signed between State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Van Giau and WB Acting Country Director in Vietnam Martin Rama in Hanoi on July 29, the credit, which is part of the Poverty Reduction Support Credit 7 (PRSC 7) Programme, has a time-limit of 40 years, including a 10-year grace period with an interest rate of 0 percent.
The credit shows WB commitment in providing continued support for Vietnam ’s economic development and poverty reduction.
Together with the WB, 10 bilateral and multilateral donors will co-sponsor the PRSC 7 programme, which is built on the Vietnamese government’s 2006-2010 socio-economic development plan, with a total capital of 220 million USD.
While stressing the importance of PRSC 7 for Vietnam’s poverty reduction and sustainable development, SBV Governor Giau highly appreciated WB and other co-sponsors’ help to enable Vietnam develop and implement the programme.
A representative from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) affirmed that ADB will continue participating in PRSC programmes and said the bank has decided to increase its contributions to three PRSC programmes in Vietnam from 15 million USD to 25 million USD each.
Representatives from the EC Delegation to Vietnam, the Embassies of Japan and Denmark , and the UK Department for International Development also affirmed their commitments to support Vietnam’s poverty reduction.
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