The Dominican government signed two loan agreements for 50 million German marks (RD$400 million pesos) with a German government cooperation agency. The loans will help build small hydroelectric plants in the impoverished Southwest and electricity transmission lines in Santo Domingo. The loans carry a 4.5% interest rate and 20-year payment plans. The Kreditanstait fur Wiederaufbau (KFW) will help fund the construction of the 2.8 megawatt generating Nizaito hydroelectric and the .7 megawatt generating hydroelectric in the municipality of Oviedo, Pedernales province. These are scheduled to be completed by 2003. The new authorities hae been giving priority to the construction of hydroelectric projects to reduce the dependency of the country on high cost petroleum imports. Likewise one of the loans will be used to build 22 kilometers of 138 kilowatts transmission lines and the construction of four power substations in Santo Domingo. Technical Secretary of the Presidency Rafael Calderón signed for the DR; Charge d’affairs of the German Embassy Hans D Vos Bothmer for Germany.
