The World Bank announced today the approval of a US$30 million loan to expand access to health care for the poor, including maternal and child health care in the DR. Caroline Anstey, the World Bank’s Director for the Caribbean made the announcement today. The program will strengthen primary health services and hospitals at the secondary and tertiary care levels in order and reinforce the decentralization of technical and management decision making at regional and provincial levels, while integrating public and private services, and reallocating health expenditures to basic health care for the poor.
The loan requires a government matching funds of US$12.7 million and is a fixed spread loan with a maturity rate of 17 years, including 5 years of grace.
The announcement comes at a time when the Mej?a government has said that one of the conditions for the signing of the World Bank-IMF agreement is a freeze on governmental borrowing abroad.