Mexico Gets $1.35bn in Loans

The World Bank has given a $1.25bn 17-year loan to support Mexico’s Oportunidades Program, to help poor families, and a $100m 12-year loan to the Mexico Water Utilities Efficiency Investment Project. The loan for Oportunidades is expected to help benefit 5.8m of the country’s poorest families, it says. The project will cost $9.90bn, $1.25bn of which will be financed by the World Bank and $8.65bn by the government counterparty. The first World Bank loan for Oportunidades was approved in April 2009. The $100m loan for the Mexico Water Utilities Efficiency Improvement Project is aimed at improving the efficiency of utilities, through technical assistance and financing. The project will cost $200m, $100m of which will be financed by the World Bank and $100m by the government counterparty. The project is expected to end on December 2014.