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EIB Awards New Loan For Moroccan Infrastructure Developments
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has awarded Morocco a €225mn ($332mn) loan to finance the upgrade of the Kingdom’s highways network. Autoroutes du Maroc (ADM) plans to widen the Rabat-Casablanca highway and build a 41km highway bypass in Rabat, to be completed in 2012 and 2013, respectively. “The loan will also be augmented by technical assistance, in the form of a grant, to improve road safety, bringing it into line with the standards recently imposed within the European Union,” said the EIB. It is the largest amount ever awarded to Morocco by the EIB, and is part of a wider modernization program being supported by European Union. “In these times of economic difficulties and uncertainty about the future facing all countries, the EIB intends to fulfill its role as a countercyclical institution, as it is doing within the European Union, by increasing its lending to its Mediterranean partners,” said EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive.
Over the past 15 years, EIB has lent Morocco €850mn ($1.25bn) for road construction, which it regards as “a prerequisite for the balanced development of economic activity and employment throughout the Kingdom,” said the EIB in a statement. Financial arrangements for the project also include a €52mn ($77mn) loan from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and a €21mn ($31mn) loan from the Portuguese credit line, ADM said.
FEMIP Awards Loan For Renault Project
The Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), which was created to strengthen and extent EIB activities in the region, will meanwhile be committing €200mn ($295mn), via Moroccan financial institutions, to the establishment of a new production line near Tangier by car manufacturer Renault. FEMIP says it plans to double its financial commitments to Morocco in 2009 to a total €540mn ($796mn). © Copyright MEES 2009.
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