Announcement of Colombia Receives Sixty-Four Million Dollars Loan for Agricultural Credit Project on December 28, 1976

REVIS ED COPY •world Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 77/47 DECEMBER 28, 1976 COLOMBIA RECEIVES $64 MILLION LOAN FOR AGRICULTURAL CREDIT PROJECT The World Bank has approved a loan of $64 million to Colombia's Banco de la Republica (BOR) to help finance an agricultural credit project. The loan will support a three-year lending program of BOR to help finance on-farm investment, as w~l 1 as investment in agro- industries, through public and private fi~ancial institutions. The project will be production-oriented and is in line with the Government's strategy to raise the output, productivity, and employ- ment capacity of the agricultural sector. Coffee production is excluded from the lending program. • The principal objectives of the project include expansion of food p~oduction to enable Colombia to continue meeting nearly all of its domestic food requirements from local sources. The food production program aims to increase the domest'ic supply of carbohydrate and protein foods in support of the Government's efforts to improve dietary standards through the National Food and Nutrition Plan. The project will also increase the availability of inputs for industry from the agricultural sector, and wi 11 assist the agricultural sector in continuing its substantial contribution to Colombia's ~xport earnings. The project will finance investments estimated to total about $175 million. The Agricultural Credit and Development Credit departments of BOR in Bogota, Colombia, will administer the project. 1 The $64 mill ion loan has the guarantee of the Republic of Colombia. The loan has a term of 15 years, including 3-1/2 years of grace, with interest at 8.7% per annum. The fol lowing six financial institutions in Germcmy, Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States have agreed to participate in this loan for a total of approximately $2,660,000: Banco de Ponce, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Berliner Handels-und Frankfurter Bank, Frankfurt, Germany; Euclid National Bank, Cleveland, Ohio; The Takai Bank Ltd. Frankfurt Branch, Frankfurt, Germany; First National State Bank of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey; and, United Virginia Bank, Richmond, Virginia. ---·---- - - ---- -- ------·-- -·-- - -------·------ -·-------·---- - -----.. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.