The World Bank has provided a credit of 5 million U.S. dollars to support microfinance projects in Madagascar.

An agreement was signed here on Tuesday between Madagascan Minister of Finance and Budget Andriamparany Radavidson Benjamin and World Bank residential representative Robert Blake, local media reported on Wednesday.

The credit was for the financing of planned projects, according to the Quotidien, a French-language daily published here on Wednesday.

The Madagascan government began to implement microfinance projects in 1999 in three phases under the patronage of the World Bank for a period of 15 years.

The government planned to set up microfinance institutions all over the island country and it was followed by extension and development of the microfinance system.

The first phase had been scheduled to end in 2004 but was extended to 2005 and again to 2006.

Ranjalahy Ihaja, executive secretary of the Agency of Execution of the project microfinance, disclosed that the next phase of the project would be reorganized in a new global reform program of financing sector.

The World Bank announced last month to provide Madagascar with 140 million U.S. dollars annually during the period 2007-2011 to support its economic development plan.

The bank increased its interventions in the Indian Ocean island country with an aim to improve efficiency of its financial system and to accelerate the process to get rid of poverty.

Source: Xinhua