WASHINGTON, August 3, 2000 - New lending commitments from the World Bank to countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region totaled US$950.4 million for 21 projects in 10 countries in fiscal year 2000 (FY00), which ended June 30. The Bank's lending commitments to the region included US$190.2 million in concessional loans from the International Development Association (IDA), and US$760.2 million in market-based loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The total compares with US$1,672 million in FY99, and US$988 million in FY98.
Iran, which had not received any loans from the Bank since FY94, was the largest borrower in the MENA region in FY00 with commitments totaling US$232 million for supporting two projects. Tunisia came second in the amount of commitments which totaled US$202 million. Lending to Algeria and Lebanon, which did not receive loans from the Bank in FY99, reached US$97.4 million and US$136.6 million respectively. Egypt received US$50 million compared with US$550 million, Morocco received US$7.5 million compared with US$440 million, and Jordan received US$35 million compared to US$210 million. Morocco also received a Global Environment Facility (GEF) fund of US$9.8 million in FY00 to support a Protected Areas Management project.
Two countries in MENA benefited from concessional lending from IDA, the World Bank affiliate providing interest-free credits to the world's poorest countries. Djibouti received US$15 million and Yemen, which had the largest number of projects (four) approved this year in MENA, received US$144.8 million. Yemen also received a commercial debt reduction grant of US$15.1 million in FY00. The West Bank and Gaza, which draw its funds out of the World Bank's surplus income on standard IDA terms, received US$30.4 million in support of three projects.
Cumulative IBRD and IDA lending for the MENA region had reached about US$34 billion by the end of FY00, with Morocco receiving the largest share with about 25 percent of the total. The major IDA beneficiaries are Egypt and Yemen, which cumulatively received in commitments up until June 30, 2000 about US$2 billion and US$1.8 billion respectively. The World Bank has also committed US$297 million to the West Bank and Gaza since FY94.