Announcement of World Bank Loan to Benefit Tunisia's Municipalities on July 6, 1992

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 92/102 Contact: Fawzi Rihane Tel: (202) 473-2675 WORLD BANK LOAN TO BENEFIT TUNISIA'S MUNICIPALITIES WASHINGTON, July 6, 1992 -- Tunisia will benefit from a $75 million World Bank loan that will finance a municipal-sector investment program. As the first World Bank operation in Tunisia to directly support local governments, the project will focus on increasing local authorities' ability to plan, identify, implement, and maintain municipal investments. It will also improve the municipalities' provision of basic infrastructure and services through the upgrading of low-income neighborhoods; construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of municipal infrastructure, including urban roads, street lighting, drainage, solid waste collection, and disposal systems; and the construction of municipal facilities such as markets and slaughterhouses. Technical assistance and training will be provided to help strengthen ) ~the institutional capacity of municipalities, the Ministry of Interior (MOI), and the Ministry of Finance. The projects will also help strengthen the Municipal Development Agency, which is the government's technical and institu- tional agent for municipal investment finance and development. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including five years of grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.73 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. Note: Money figures are in U.S. dollar equivalents.