As of December 31, 2001, the level of cumulative development assistance extended by the OPEC Fund stood as follows:

Public sector lending

A total of 913 loans worth $4,873.7 million had been approved. The loans fell into the following categories:

Project: 666 loans valued at $3,698.3 million

BOP Support: 185 loans totaling $724.2 million

Program: 41 loans worth $305.3 million

HIPC Initiative: 21 loans amounting to $145.8million

Disbursement of loans

By the end of the year 2001, and in the public sector, a total of 539 loans had been fully disbursed, some 231 had been partially disbursed, and a further 32 remained pending and still to become effective. An additional 111 loans had been canceled subsequent to original commitments. Total loan disbursements amounted to $3,087.8 million.

Regional distribution

The geographical breakdown of public sector loans approved through December 31, 2001, was as follows:

Africa: 521 loans, worth $2,434 million, extended to 46 countries

Asia: 245 loans, valued at $1,817 million, provided to 27 countries

Latin America and the Caribbean: 140 loans, totaling $584.5 million, provided to 21 countries

Europe: 7 loans, amounting to $38.2 million, given to two countries

Categories of recipient countries

By the end of 2001, the world's least developed countries had received $2,822.7 million or 58% of the Fund's total public sector lending commitments, while other developing countries had benefited from loans worth $2,057.8 million, or 42% of the total.

Categories of loans

Regionally, public sector loans were apportioned according to type as follows:

Project loans: $1,722.3 million to Africa; $1,576.8 million to Asia; $361 million to Latin America and the Caribbean; and $38.2 million to Europe.

BOP support loans: $430.5 million to Africa; $175.8 million to Asia; and $118 million to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Program loans: $166.6 million to Africa; $64.5 million to Asia; and $74.2 million to Latin America and the Caribbean.

HIPC Initiative: $114.6 million to Africa; and $31.2 million to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sectoral distribution of project loans to the public sector

By economic sector, project lending was broken down as follows:

Transportation: $880.3 million, or 23.8%

Energy: $767.3 million, or 20.7%

Agriculture and agro-industry: $594.5 million, or 16.1%

Education: $499.9 million, or 13.5%

Health: $258.6 million, or 7%

Water supply and sewerage: $263.6 million, or 7.1%

National development banks: $174.7 million, or 4.7%

Multisectoral: $148.6 million, or 4%

Industry: $92.7 million, or 2.5%

Telecommunications: $18.1 million, or 0.5%

(See Appendix I for full details.)

Private Sector Financing

Through its private sector window and by the end of 2001, the Fund had approved financing worth a total of $111.7 million in 23 operations in support of private sector entities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

Grants

Cumulatively, the Fund had committed a total of 568 grants worth $251.8 million by December 31, 2001. Of this sum, $99.1 million was extended as technical assistance, often in cooperation with United Nations agencies and a number of other international development organizations; $44.1 million was made available in support of emergency relief operations; $4.7 million sponsored research and similar activities; $20 million went to IFAD; and $327,000 was committed for project preparation. In addition, grant allocations totaling $83.6 million were approved for the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). This amount is made up of a voluntary contribution of $46.4 million to the Second Account of the CFC and another $37.2 million to cover the subscriptions of 35 least developed countries to the directly contributed capital of the CFC. By the end of 2001, agreements for CFC grants totaling $34.1 million had been signed by the OPEC Fund with 32 of these countries; $11.53 million had been disbursed.

IFAD

IFAD was founded in 1977 as a specialized agency of the United Nations and is mandated to mobilize concessional resources for agricultural development in the world's poorer regions. It provides funding for projects to introduce or expand food production systems and works to strengthen related policies and institutions in accordance with national priorities and strategies.

The OPEC Fund played a significant role in the establishment of IFAD, channeling $861.1 million in contributions from OPEC member countries towards the agency's initial capital ($435.5 million) and first replenishment ($425.6 million). Of this pledged total, $732 million ($647.5 million in cash and $84.4 million in promissory notes) had been paid-in by the end of 2001.

Since IFAD's creation, OPEC states have maintained their firm support of the agency, contributing to additional replenishments of its resources. In 1986, $184 million was pledged for the second replenishment, of which $176.7 million in cash has been paid-in. OPEC member countries also agreed to contribute $124.4 million towards the third replenishment in 1989. Of this amount, $119.5 million ($97.1 million in cash and $22.4 million in the form of promissory notes) had been paid-in by the end of 2001. OPEC member countries also contributed to the fourth and fifth replenishments: they pledged $39.3 million to the fourth, of which $34.8 million has been paid in ($22.3 million in cash and $12.5 million in promissory notes); and they committed $45.1 million to the fifth, of which $12.1 million has been paid in ($3.8 million in cash and $8.6 million in promissory notes).

IMF Trust Fund

Also through the OPEC Fund, resources amounting to $110.7 million were transferred by a number of OPEC Fund member states to the IMF-administered Trust Fund, established in May 1976. Representing profits accruing to seven of these countries from the sale of gold held on their behalf by the IMF, these resources were allocated to provide concessional balance of payments support to eligible low-income IMF member countries.

PRGF Trust

In 1994, the OPEC Fund entered into an agreement with the IMF to contribute to the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) Trust, which was established in December 1987, and subsequently extended and enlarged in February 1994, to provide loans on concessional terms to qualifying, low-income IMF developing countries. The ESAF was replaced in October 1999 by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). The aim of this facility is to bring about substantive changes in the way countries' programs are formulated and, in particular, to arrive at policies that are more clearly focused on growth and poverty reduction. The OPEC Fund has committed $50 million to the Trust, and three drawings, in the total amount of $49.747 million have been made so far. The ESAF Trust was aimed at responding to the balance of payments difficulties confronting many of the world's poorest developing countries.