The World Bank and the Indonesian government on Thursday signed agreements for new loans and grants worth about 478 million dollars to help fight poverty.
The deals were signed by World Bank country director Mark Baird and Finance Minister Budiono.
"We are very pleased by the international community's show of confidence in our new government. Today's signing of a whole new generation of World Bank development assistance marks a turning point in what has been a long struggle to move forward," Budiono said.
Indonesia on Monday signed an initial agreement with the International Monetary Fund, paving the way for the resumption of a five billion dollar loan programme.
The World Bank said around 320 million dollars will go to the so-called "Kecamatan (sub-district) Development Project" that supports lower-level planning and grassroots democratisation in more than 15,000 villages.
It said around 130 million dollars will be allocated for the second Provincial Health Project.
The West Java Environmental Management Project will receive 20 million dollar in loans and 2.5 million dollars in grants, the Library Development Project will get 4.2 million dollars in grants while the Indonesian Women Migrant Workers project will get 242,500 dollars in grants.
"This programme is in line with our country assistance strategy and it reflects our ongoing support for Indonesia's fight against poverty," Baird said.
"We are hopeful that ongoing efforts by the government to reduce corruption, as reflected in the design of these projects, will ensure that the benefits reach the poor." |
