Announcement of Solomon Islands to Receive One Million Fifty Thousand IDA Credit for Development Bank Project on March 19, 1981

. ' .FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE eWorldBank ·1 R18 H Sln•Pt '.'l.W. \.\\1~h1ngto11, D.C 20431, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 I lJ A I~ l:.\J S t{ EL U, SE IW . 8 1/ 58 March 19, 1981 SJLOMON ISL/.\NDS TO RECEIVE SDR 1.3 MILLION IDA CREDIT FOR DEVELOPMENT SANK PROJECT The International Uevelopment Association (IDA) has approved a credit of SUR 1 .3 mill ion ($1 .S mill ion) to the Solomon Islands to assist the Development Bank of Solomon Island~ (CGSI) in provfdin9 finance for productive investments by indigenous entrepreneurs Juriny 1001-32. This is the first operation assisted by IDA, t~e soft- 1o::.- :· t ·::; : 1 .: ·: ... of the \for l d Bank, i "; t 1,,:! .:-~ l Jr::.11 I·:: ;tr ',. The assistonce exterideci in the form of srnal ]-scale loans wi 11 benefit about 500 subprojects in the a~ricul tural, industrial, commercicJl, transportation and service sectors. A total investment of about $8.4 million is expected to be gen- erated, creatin<:J about 2,()00 nel,J jobs and about $5.1 million in a.:'.ditj.·,n;:i~ annual in- come. This project is exrJected to strengthen the OBSI so that it can further contri- • bute to the country's economic development . The uBSl, established in 1978, is meeting a significant financing need of the Solomon Islanders who previously were neglected by the commercial banks due to the lack of bank branch netvJOrks and high administrative costs associated vJith such lending. The project will help maintain the standard of living of the rural popula- tion and encourage indigenous participation in the growth of the economy. The ,L\sian DevelOfJlllCnt Bank wi 11 provide $2 mi 11 ion as lead co-financier towards the SJ.:, mi I 1 ion total cost of the project, \.vi th IDA providing the balance of $1.5 mil I ion. The IUA crcdi t is for 50 ycars 1 including JO years of grace. It carries no interest but wi I I bear J service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum to cover the Association's administrative expenses. NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a 11 basket 11 of currencies. The U.S. dollar equi- valent of the SOR amount of the IDA credit reflects the exchange rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit . •