Announcement of Morocco to Borrow Ninety-One Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars from World Bank on April 28, 1983

. ..fOR, IMMEDIATE RELEAS.E ' • World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.•Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/74 Contact: Ciro Gamarra April 28, 1983 ( 202) 47 7-5320 MOROCCO TO BORROW $91.2 MILLION FROM WORLD BANK Morocco will borrow $75.2 million for oil exploration and $16 million for setting up a pilot fund to provide essential services throughout the country, the World Bank announced today .. The two loans, totalling $91.2 million, are to come from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IRRD). The IBRD loans are for 17 years, including four years of grace, at an annual rate linked to the cost of Bank borrowings. The loans also carry an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 0.25% on the amount of the loans. Petroleum Explo_ration and Appraisal Project Natural gas was discovered at Heskala in the Essaouira basin in 1981 under a petroleum exploration project assisted with an IBRD loan of $50 • ruillion. If the commerciality of the Meskala gas find is confirmed, it could reduce Morocco's dependence on energy imports in the 1980s. The second wo~ld Bank loan could enable Morocco to prepare a project for future gas development. Nine deep appraisal or exploratory wells will be drilled and tested within the Essaouira ~~ea. Technical as well as geophysical studies of the area, (including seismic, gravity/magPetic surveys) 9 will be financed. Data for exploration promotion will be gathered and analyzed for presentation in Horocco and abroad to foreign oil companies. Technical assistance will aJso be supplied to the Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Pe~rolieres (ONAREP), which will provide $31 million toward project costs. Pilot Project for Communal Infrastructure Fund (FEC) A $16 million line of credit will be provid,· J to Fonds d' Equipement Communal (FEC--Communal Infrastructure Fund) to finAt'.,',~ about 35 rev~nue-earning projects throughout Morocco. The F~C ~as established in 1959 to extend loans to local communes, the basic unit of local government, as well as to public utility and transport authorities. Seciora eligible for financing will include: water supply, sewerage, electricity, urban transportation and development, warehouses, markets, and slaughterhouses. By strengthening the FEC as a development finance institution, the IBRD will support the government's policy of promoting regional and communal • development. Technical consultants and advisors will be supplied to assist in project preparati.on, evaluation, and supervision in designing a training program for Fl?I~ staff, and in the development of operating procedures for FEC. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.