Under an agreement signed between State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Van Giau and WB Acting Country Director in Vietnam Martin Rama in Hanoi on July 29, the credit, which is part of the Poverty Reduction Support Credit 7 (PRSC 7) Programme, will be implemented in 40 years, including a 10-year grace period with an interest rate of 0 percent.

The credit shows the WB’s commitment to providing continued support for Vietnam’s economic development and poverty reduction.

Together with the WB, 10 bilateral and multilateral donors will co-sponsor the PRSC 7 programme, which is built on the Vietnamese government’s 2006-2010 socio-economic development plan, with a total capital of US$220 million.

While stressing the importance of PRSC 7 for Vietnam’s poverty reduction and sustainable development, SBV Governor Phan Van Giau highly appreciated the WB and other co-sponsors’ help to enable Vietnam develop and implement the programme.

A representative from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) affirmed that the ADB will continue participating in PRSC programmes and said the bank has decided to increase its contributions to three PRSC programmes in Vietnam from US$15 million to US$25 million each.