Italy will loan with an interest-free €30 million (K51 billion) loan to Myanmar’s National Electrification Project (NEP) to facilitate electrification process

Italy will extend an interest-free €30 million (K51 billion) loan towards Myanmar’s National Electrification Project (NEP). An agreement between the two countries was signed yesterday.

The loan comes with a grace period of 18 years, after which it should be paid back within ten years. It was approved in Parliament in August 2018.

The funds will be used to develop rural off-grid projects implemented by the Department of Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI).

This will bring electricity via solar power and small-scale power systems to an estimated 96,500 households in 2019 villages in Chin State, one of the country’s poorest and most inaccessible areas, and Sagaing Region.

Meanwhile, German state-owned development bank KfW has also extended €9 million towards bringing electricity to southern Shan State.

The NEP has two parts. One involves projects being carried out by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) and the other involves the Village Department under MOALI. 

The World Bank has lent US$400 million towards the project, with the MOEE receiving US$310 million and the remaining being channeled to MOALI. In 2016-17, the Department of Rural Development helped to light up 90,000 households in 2708 villages.

In the last fiscal year, it helped to light up 80,000 using solar energy, said U Sai Thura Kyaw, deputy director of the Department of Rural Development.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/italian-loan-facilitate-electrification-process.html )

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