ARMENIA ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE LOAN FROM OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ArmenPress
Dec 22 2004

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: United Arab Emirates-chaired OPEC
Fund for International Development announced December 21 it approved
loans worth a total of USD 157.4million at a recent board of governors
meeting in the Fund’s Vienna offices.

Jamal Nasser Lutah, the board’s chairman and assistant undersecretary
of Industry at the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry (MOFI),
unveiled the details of the loans. He said: ‘The board has approved
17 loans totaling $157.4 million to offer credit finance for projects
in Angola, Armenia, Bosnia, Congo, Jordan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.”

The loans are for as long as 20 years. The first five years offer a
grace period and the interest payable varies from 1 per cent to 1.75
per cent.’

The announcement did not say how much Armenia is expected to get.
The Armenian finance and economy ministry said it did not discuss
yet how the loan could be used.

The OPEC Fund for International Development was established in January
1976 by the member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC). The Fund was established to support
low-income countries in their efforts to make economic and social
progress. It aims to promote cooperation between member countries of
OEPC and other developing nations.