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Agreement on World Bank donation for poverty reduction signed
Belgrade,
26 July 2007
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and World Bank Country Director for South-East Europe Orsalia Kalantzopoulos signed today the Agreement on a World Bank donation worth $500,000 for implementation of the poverty reduction strategy.
Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, left, and Bozidar Djelic after signing of agreement
Djelic said at a press conference held after the signing of the agreement that poverty in Serbia stands at 9% and pointed out that the government's aim is to half that number by 2010.
Funds from the donation will be used, among other things, for defining new priorities for the next three years in key areas covered by the Strategy and these are employment, education, health and social care, Djelic explained.
He said that the government adopted today a platform for the use of five loans of the World Bank, in the total amount of RSD 192.5 million.
The loan for regional development of Bor will be $43 million, for reform of agriculture $21.5 million, for projects of irrigation and drainage $50 million, for modernisation of road network $50 million and for energy efficiency $28 million.
Djelic said that two out of five loans have been signed under very favourable IDA conditions - a 20 year repayment period, without interest and grace period of 10 years, and three under standard World Bank conditions which are also favourable.
From 2002 until now, Serbia has obtained loans worth $725 million from the World Bank, of which amount $567 million has been used, recalled Djelic and added that these loans were provided under very favourable conditions, for 20 years, without interest, at an annual commission rate of 0.75%.
Serbia’s debt to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on May 31, 2007, according to debt-consolidation loans with which obligations of the former Yugoslavia were regulated, stood at $2.162, and of that some $556 million is related to Kosovo-Metohija, said Djelic.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister brought up the issue of payment of the Kosovo-Metohija debt to the World Bank at the meeting with World Bank representatives.
Manager of the Deputy Prime Minister’s team for implementing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Aleksandra Jovic said that the money from the donation will be distributed to relevant ministries and municipalities with aim to implement the strategy.
Kalantzopoulos said that Serbia has made great progress in development and from a country with negative credit rating and a huge inflation rate it has become a country with a positive credit rating and one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.
She added that it is possible that Serbian people still do not feel this improvement, but things are still moving forward and it is time for the World Bank to establish a partner relationship with Serbia and adopt a new economic memorandum which will aim to remove social differences from the country and bring standards up to the level of European countries.
She said that Serbia will join the programme for strategic partnership which implies that in the World Bank criteria Serbia has entered the category of countries such as Hungary which have already entered the EU.
The new head of the World Bank Office in Belgrade Simon Gray was presented at the press conference.
Funds from the donation will be used, among other things, for defining new priorities for the next three years in key areas covered by the Strategy and these are employment, education, health and social care, Djelic explained.
He said that the government adopted today a platform for the use of five loans of the World Bank, in the total amount of RSD 192.5 million.
The loan for regional development of Bor will be $43 million, for reform of agriculture $21.5 million, for projects of irrigation and drainage $50 million, for modernisation of road network $50 million and for energy efficiency $28 million.
Djelic said that two out of five loans have been signed under very favourable IDA conditions - a 20 year repayment period, without interest and grace period of 10 years, and three under standard World Bank conditions which are also favourable.
From 2002 until now, Serbia has obtained loans worth $725 million from the World Bank, of which amount $567 million has been used, recalled Djelic and added that these loans were provided under very favourable conditions, for 20 years, without interest, at an annual commission rate of 0.75%.
Serbia’s debt to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on May 31, 2007, according to debt-consolidation loans with which obligations of the former Yugoslavia were regulated, stood at $2.162, and of that some $556 million is related to Kosovo-Metohija, said Djelic.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister brought up the issue of payment of the Kosovo-Metohija debt to the World Bank at the meeting with World Bank representatives.
Manager of the Deputy Prime Minister’s team for implementing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Aleksandra Jovic said that the money from the donation will be distributed to relevant ministries and municipalities with aim to implement the strategy.
Kalantzopoulos said that Serbia has made great progress in development and from a country with negative credit rating and a huge inflation rate it has become a country with a positive credit rating and one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.
She added that it is possible that Serbian people still do not feel this improvement, but things are still moving forward and it is time for the World Bank to establish a partner relationship with Serbia and adopt a new economic memorandum which will aim to remove social differences from the country and bring standards up to the level of European countries.
She said that Serbia will join the programme for strategic partnership which implies that in the World Bank criteria Serbia has entered the category of countries such as Hungary which have already entered the EU.
The new head of the World Bank Office in Belgrade Simon Gray was presented at the press conference.
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