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Sao Tome and Principe: World Bank approves US$6 million loan [ 2008-06-13 ]


Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 13 June – The World Bank has decided to approve a loan of US$6 million to Sao Tome and Principe to combat the poverty that affects almost 53 percent of the Sao Tome population, the archipelago’s national radio station reported.

According to Sao Tome and Prancipe state radio, the loan approved Tuesday in Washington, United States, essential aims to implement reforms in the tax sector as well as provide investment in the health, education and infrastructure sectors.

The funds from the World Bank will also be injected into projects for management of natural resources as well as governance activities in the oil sector, in partnership with the initiative for transparency in the extractive industries in order to ensure the economic stability of the archipelago, the radio station reported.

At the beginning of 2007, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to pardon 90 percent of Sao Tome and Principe’s external debts as part of a financial programme aimed at correcting the country’s macroeconomic imbalances.

The World Bank has supported Sao Tome and Principe within the framework of a process of oil exploration in the seas off the archipelago, by training staff and providing technical assistance. (macauhub)