Agribank to Disburse $65.26M WB Loans to Agro Project

The State Bank of Vietnam has assigned Agribank to disburse $65.26 million in loans from the World Bank to a project to improve the competitiveness of domestic livestock industry and enhance food safety. The project has a total investment of $79.03 million, including $3.4 million worth of reciprocal capital while public funds are $10.37 million, the central bank said on its website. The project will be carried out from 2010 to 2015 in 12 provinces across the country. It aims to increase the production efficiency of household-based livestock producers, reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, processing and marketing, and improve food safety in livestock product supply chains (mainly meat) in these provinces.  Agribank, which plays a decisive and important role in local agricultural and rural financial market, had lent a total of VND366 trillion by end-March, up 3.3% from end-2009. Seventy percent of the sum was rural and agricultural credits.