Announcement of Three Million Four Hundred Thousand Dollars Credit for Industrial Development in Burundi on July 11, 1977

.World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 78/2 JULY 11, 1'177 $3.4 MILLION CREDIT FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELBPMENT IN BURUNDI Industrial development in Burundi will be assisted by a credit of $3.4 mill ion from the International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank. The credit will help meet the foreign exchange requirements fo the Banque Natlonale de Developpement Economique (BNDE) -- a development finance company during 1977-78. BNDE was established In 1967 to assist in the economic develop~ ment fo Burundi by providing financing to productive enterprises in the agricultural, industrial, tourism and housing sectors. BNDE's impact on economic development of Burundi has thus far been 1 imtted; it has provided mainly term financing for agriculture, housing and consumer equipment. BNDE is seeking to expand itssrole In industrial development. The IDA credit to~ether with contributions from other sources of external assis- tance will help BNDE play a more active role • • The IDA credit to Burundi is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It wi 11 be interest-free, except for a service charge of 314 of 1% to meet IDA's administrative costs. The Government will relend the proceeds of the credit to BNDE (Banque Nationale de Developpernent Economique, Borte Postale 1620, Bujumbura, Burundi; Cable address - DEVBANK, Bujumbura) at an interest rate of 5% per annum for a period substantially in conformity with the aggregate of the amortization schedules of the sub-loans. The Government will make available to BNDE as a grant about $400,000 to provide technical assistance to an industrial development unit to be created within BNDE. NOTE: Monev figures are expressed in US dollar equivalents • •