ADB approves $44m in loans for Timor-Leste

6 Mar 18

The Asian Development Bank has approved a total of $44m in financing to improve roads in Timor-Leste.

The financing is made up of a $19m regular loan and a $25m concessional loan, which will be used to upgrade 58 kilometres of roads from Baucau to Viqueque in the country. 

Paolo Spantigati, ADB country director for Timor Leste, said: “The existing Baucau to Viqueque national road corridor, essential to Timor-Leste’s economic activities, is generally in poor condition being narrow and mostly unsealed.

“The Baucau to Viqueque Highway Project will open up access to schools, clinics, and other community services.”

Once the project is complete, the road is expected to stimulate broader economic development in the agriculture-rich and high tourism districts on the southern coast of Timor-Leste.

The bank, along with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is also financing the upgrade of a highway between Dili and Baucau.

The project will make roads safer and more resilient to climate change effects, as well as reduce travel time and costs.

Last year, Timor-Leste was urged to boost its health policy planning to manage risings costs.

The International Monetary Fund also called on the country to make its public spending more efficient as its oil resources are expected to run out.

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