Announcement of Uruguay Gets Thirty Million Dollars for Industrial Credit Project on December 18, 1980

_ EO'R IMMEDIAJE . . ~ELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 81/38 December 18, 1980 URUGUAY GETS $30 MILLION FOR INDUSTRIAL CREDIT PROJECT An industrial credit project in Uruguay is being supported by the World Bank with a $30 million loan. The project aims at helping the country to im- prove the international competitiveness of its industrial and tourism enterprises. The project is the Bank's second operation in the industrial sector in Uruguay. It has an estimated total cost of $66. 14 million and will finance about 65 to 80 productive industr;a1, agro-industrial, and tourism proposals that will require investments in accordance with Uruguay's tariff reduction program. This operation will complement a vocational and technological devel- opment project that was approved in June 1978. The project will also encourage the establishment of project promotion tit and formulation capacity within participating intermediary banks. The loan will provide $29.45 million fer investment credit to the Central Bank's Industrial Development Subfund for lending through commercial banks and casas bancarias. The remaining $0.55 million will finance technical assistance to the government, including the execution of a study to review the impact of the tariff reduction program. World Bank financing will be combined with lines of credit from private international sources. The project is expected to have a significant development impact through industrial growth, increased foreign exchan9e earnings and savings, employment generation, and institutional improvements. About 3,200 jobs are expected to be generated through the investment subprojects. The $30 million World Bank loan to the Republica Oriental del Uruguay is for 12 years, including three years of grace, and will carry an interest rate of 9.25% per annum. In December 1975, the Bank approved a $35 million loan to help fi- nance an industrial development and export promotion project in Uruguay. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . •