Kuwait provides loan for Bahrain for electric grid

The Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development said it is presenting a loan of 7.5 million Bahraini dinars ($25 million) to develop Bahrain's electricity network.

The fund said in a press statement that the project aims at meeting the increasing demand for electric energy in Bahrain, especially in residential, commercial and industrial areas, and that the total cost of the project is estimated at 27 million Bahrain dinars.

The statement added that the Kuwaiti loan covers almost a quarter of the project's costs and is to be repaid over a 20-year period, including an allowance period of five years, to be paid in 30 semi-annual installments, the first of which is due in 2002 while the last will come due in February, 2019.

The interest rate on the loan is 3% annually, and the project is expected to be started in the first half of the coming year and completed during the year 2002.