Italian loan agreement signed

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: An agreement to grant Iraq an Italian €100 million loan was signed on Saturday by the Iraqi minister of finance, Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi, and the Italian ambassador to Iraq, Maurizio Melani, said a ministerial statement. The loan agreement, which was signed at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in downtown Baghdad, “aims at boosting the capabilities of the ministries of agriculture and water resources and supporting small projects of the private sector,” according to the statement that was received by IraqiNews.com. “The agreement stipulates a 16-year-term loan with an eight-year grace period and an interest rate of 0.2 percent,” the statement indicated. SS (P) 1