MARSEILLE, FRANCE, SEPT 10 | Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:51am EDT
MARSEILLE, France, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Group of Eight finance chiefs pledged on Saturday $38 billion in financing to Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan over 2011-13 and said Libya’s interim ruling council would be invited to join the scheme.
Finance ministers and senior officials from the G7 major economies plus Russia extended an assistance partnership set up with Egypt and Tunisia at a May summit in Deauville, northern France.
“The institutions pledged to increase their financial network to $38 billion compared with the $20 billion pledged at Deauville,” French finance minister Francois Baroin told a news conference. “This is not just words, an important step was taken this morning.”
The World Bank is putting up $10.7 billion, the African Development Bank $7.6 billion, the Islamic Development Bank $5.0 billion with the rest coming from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other lenders.
(Reporting by Catherine Bremer; Writing by Mike Peacock)
