Kuwait lent $80 million to Iraq to fund the establishment of 73 schools in 15 provinces in a country that witnessed the destruction of its infrastructure due to the war on ISIS.
The loan is one of the outcomes of the Kuwait-hosted International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development signed the deal with Iraq to contribute to the funding of the project, which includes the construction of about 73 schools of either 18 or 12 classrooms over 15 Iraqi governorates.
Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Bader, Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, said Thursday that the deal is the first step following the Iraq donors conference hosted by Kuwait in February.
Bader said the deal serves the fourth goal of sustainable development on comprehensive education for all.
The deal was the third loan extended by the Fund to Iraq after loans extended in 1970 and 1971, totaling about KD5.7 million. In addition, the Fund is currently administering 4 grants on behalf of Kuwait amounting to about 85 million Kuwaiti dinars (equivalent to $290 million).
Dr. Salahuddin Hamed Al-Hadeethy, Director-General of the Department of Public Debt, Ministry of Finance, stated that this agreement is one of the first outcomes of the Kuwait-hosted conference.
Hadeethy added that the fund’s loans are “soft with annual interests of no more than 2 percent and with a period extending 20 years.”
