South Africa gets $1.5 billion World Bank loan for infrastructure


South Africa has secured a $1.5 billion World Bank loan to support ​reforms aimed at easing infrastructure bottlenecks, ‌boosting economic growth and creating jobs, its National Treasury said on Tuesday.

The Development Policy ​Loan will be spent on the ​water and sanitation, freight transport and ⁠electricity sectors, the Treasury said in ​a statement.

The loan offers a favourable interest ​rate and flexible repayment terms, contributing to minimising the rise in debt service costs, the Treasury ​added, Reuters reported.

It said the loan has a ​15-year maturity, including a three-year grace period, and ‌carries ⁠an interest rate of six-month SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) plus 1.35%.

Together with financing from other multilateral lenders, the loan has ​enabled the ​South ⁠African government to meet its 2026/27 foreign currency borrowing requirement ​of $3.2 billion.

The World Bank said the ​financing ⁠was the fourth in a series of stand-alone Development Policy Loans to South ⁠Africa ​since 2022.

It is the ​first that aims to support improvements in water and ​sanitation.

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