DUSHANBE, January 22, 2010, Asia-Plus -- In 2010, Tajik government signed 11 loan and 26 grant agreements with international financial institutions and foreign countries for a total amount of 2.46 billion somoni, Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, 1.47 billion somoni are provided in loans and almost one billion somoni are provided in form of grants.

“These loans and grants will go to financing enhancement of the country’s socioeconomic sphere,” said the minister, “They will be used for providing energy independence, bringing the country out of the transportation deadlock, and providing food security.”

Within the framework of implementation of the poverty reduction strategy, the grant resources will be used to support the social sector and improvement of living standards of the population.

“In 2010, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate stood at 6.5 percent and the national budget was overfulfilled by 3 percent,” Najmiddinov said.