Press Release

OFID releases US$130.9 million in fresh financing for development

79/2006 September 11, 2006, Vienna, Austria
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New financing of US$124.4 million has been approved by the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). The funds will support nine projects in Africa and Asia. OFID Director-General, Mr. Suleiman Al-Herbish, said “I am confident this new batch of financing will go a long way in helping partner countries meet some of their most critical development needs.” Mr. Al-Herbish added that the projects “have been developed in close cooperation with the concerned countries to respond to priority areas.”

The nine public sector project loans comprise:

In addition, US$6.5 million in grant assistance has been approved. To be drawn from OFID’s Special Grant Account for Palestine, US$4 million will co-finance Phase III of a project that will provide assistance to Palestinian universities and colleges, while US$2 million will be extended to the World Food Program to deliver protracted food assistance to needy communities in the West Bank and Gaza. A US$500,000 grant will co-finance a Program of Action for Cancer Therapy, an initiative of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (See separate press release 80/2006).

Since its inception, OFID has provided more than US$8 billion in much needed concessional development financing to 120 developing countries, thereby raising hopes and living standards among thousands of disadvantaged communities worldwide.