The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has entered into agreements for the implementation of 18 public expenditure projects worth $763 million under grant aids and concession loans in the first half of this year, according to a report released by MEF.

Nine projects worth $635.59 million or nearly 30 percent of the budget will be implemented by allocating concession loans provided by bilateral development partners.

Among them, five projects will be allotted $385.53 million or 18 percent of the budget and four others will be allotted $250.06 million or 11.7 percent of the budget, according to the report.

The report pointed out that another nine projects worth $127.17 million will be implemented by allocating grant aids provided by bilateral development partners.

Four of the projects are worth $93.55 million and the five others $33.62 million.

The project costs under the grant aids were not set as a percentage of the budget.

During the first half of this year, $906.28 million in cash — 51.93 percent of the budget was disbursed for allocation—$855 million or 55.97 percent of the budget under concession loans and $50.41 million or 23.35 percent of the budget, according to the report.

It added that $524.31 million of grant aids and concession loans unpassed through the General Department of National Treasury.

Disbursement refers to the proceeds or cash a creditor agreed with a debtor on the withdrawal for actual expenses in implementing a project or program, while debt service refers to the principal, interest, and other fees.

The government has repaid about $220.34 million or 42.17 percent of the budget for 2022 to development partners and collected approximately $22.05 million from its debtors —34.55 percent of the budget, according to the report. It further said that the government has about $9.67 billion of debt stock which is all external debts.

• Tags: loans, MEF