DUSHANBE, November 2, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- On Wednesday November 2, deputies of the Majlisi Namoyandagon approved the national borrowing program designed for 2012-2014.

Under this program, Tajikistan will borrow some 1.241 billion U.S. dollars within the next three years.

In his speech Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov noted that the loans would go to financing 58 projects aimed at enhancing the country’s energy, agrarian, educational, transportation and health sectors.

“These loans that are provided to our country by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international financial institutions are the preferential ones with annual interest rates fluctuating from 0.15 to 2.0 percent repayable over 12 to 40 years,” the minister stressed.

In 2012 alone, Tajikistan will receive more than 175 million U.S. dollars in grants from international financial institutions, Najmididnov noted.

“According to our estimates, Tajikistan’s external debt will amount to 33-34 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014,” the minister added.