Announcement of IDA Approves Forty-Five Million US Dollars Credit to Madagascar for Sixth Highway Project on June 27, 1983

·. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE •World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.•Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/106 Contact: Pushpa Schwartz June 27, 1983 ( 202) 477-3 294 IDA APPROVES $45 MILLION CREDIT TO MADAGASCAR FOR SIXTH HIGHWAY PROJECT Madagascar will carry out a three-year road maintenance program with the support of a credit of SDR 41.7 million ($45 million) from the International Development Association (IDA). IDA is the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending. The African Development Fund is providing a credit of $19.2 million and the International Fund for Agricultural Development is providing a loan of $1.4 million, to co-finance the $81.73 million project. Maintenance operations will be carried out during 1984-86 on some 10,000 kilometers (km) of priority roads. These roads carry about 90% of the total traffic in the country. • A total of 280 km of Madagascar's main road network, the north-south axis composed of Route Nationales 4 and 7, will be rehabilitated, extending efforts made under the fourth and fifth highway projects. In addition, the present project will include rehabilitation, spot improvement, and maintenance of about 2,470 km of rural roads, located mainly in areas of agricultural and industrial development, as well as patching and resealing on about 2,500 km of paved roads. Equipment and workshops will also be provided. To assist the private road t~ansport industry, a $10 million line of credit will be provided to the Bankin' Ny Indostria, Madagascar's inqustrial bank. The money is for emergency spar~ parts to be purchased by distributors of utility vehicles. Training will also be provided under the project for the staff of the Ministries of Public Works and of Transport, Supplies, and Tourism. The country's National Soils Laboratory, which conducts soils investigations for the design and construction supervision of civil engineering structures, including roads, will also be supplied with equipment and technical assistance. The government and the Bankin' Ny Indostria will contribute $16.1 million towards the project. Previou~ IDA lending for the highway sector in Madagascar amounted to $104 million under five projects. The IDA credit is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace; it carries no interest but has a small service charge (0.5% on the undisbursed • balances of the credit and 0.75% on the disbursed balances) • NOT.E: IDA credits ar~ are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dollar equivalent o.f the SDR amount of the IDA credit reflects the exchange rates existing at the time of the negotiation of the credit.