Announcement of Liberia Receives IDA Credit for Helping Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises on November 20, 1980

FOR IMM'EDIA TE RELEASE ' .World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 81/ 18 November 20, 1980 LIBERIA RECEIVES IDA CREDIT FOR HELPING SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTERPRISES Small and medium-scale enterprises in Liberia will benefit from a line of credit amounting to SOR 3.2 mill ion ($4 million) from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank affiliate for concessionary lending. Of the credit amount, $3.4 mill ion will be re-lent by the Liberian government through the central bank, the National Bank of Liberia, to the banking system. The amount wi 11 be shared by small-scale en- terprises which will receive $1 mil lion, and the medium-scale enter- • prises which will account for $2.4 million. All enterprises except trade will be eligible for financing. They include wood and metal working, food processing, building materials, tailoring, and road trans- portation, repair, and maintenance. Both fixed investment and permcnent working capital will be financed. Technical assistance will also be provided under the project to the National Investment Commission (Mail Bag 9043, Monrovia, Liberia. Cable: INVEST LI. Telex: 4560 LI), recently established to promote and assist small and medium-scale enterprises. The IDA credit to Liberia is for 50 years, including a 10-year grace period. It carries no interest, but bears a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum. NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dol- lar equivalent of the SOR amount of the IDA credit reflects the ex- change rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit . •