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Oman gets $35.9m Arab Fund loan

MUSCAT: Oman signed a loan agreement on Sunday with the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) for some 11 million Kuwaiti dinars ($35.9 million), the official Oman news agency ONA reported.

It quoted Oman's Finance Ministry undersecretary Darwish bin Ismail al-Balushi as saying the loan would be used to help finance a water supply project in the Gulf Arab state.

The 18-year loan carries a 4.5 percent annual interest rate and a four-year grace period, ONA said.

Balushi said the AFESD loan and a 12-million riyal ($3.2 million) loan from the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Fund would cover 85 percent of the project's costs.

AFESD was set up in 1968 by Arab states to help finance development projects.-Reuters