WB Oks $150M Loan for Poverty Reduction Program in Vietnam

The World Bank (WB) has approved a credit worth $150 million for Vietnam to help the country implement the 10th Poverty Reduction Credit Support program (PRSC 10). The loan has a term of 25 years, with payment to start five years after the program is implemented, the Voice of Vietnam Radio said. With the preferential loan from the International Development Association (IDA) – an agency of the WB for poverty reduction, PRSC 10 is aimed to assist Vietnam in maintaining reforms towards becoming a middle income country. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung earlier adopted the negotiation result of the WB’s loan for such program. PRSC was introduced in Vietnam in 2002 to promote growth and poverty reduction through the use and improvement of policy and budget processes. The WB financed a total of $1.47 billion for nine programs of PRSC in the country as of late 2010. The WB implements PRSC in developing countries with stable macro-economies and reasonable financial management systems. Early in Nov, Vietnam proposed the Japanese Ministry of Finance to raise the credit for the 10th Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC 10) from JPY3.5 billion to JPY10 billion in the second phase of the 2011 fiscal year. Vietnam reports 3.05 million poor households and 1.61 million near-poor ones, accounting for 14.2% and 7.53% of its total 90-million population, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) said. (vov.vn Dec 18, Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Dec 19 p2)