Basra municipal council has agreed to finance 4,100 economic projects under its provincial loan program of $25 million, an informed source said on Tuesday.
"The projects will receive the loans under the soft loan program that includes agricultural, industrial, and trade activities," a member of the council's economic development committee, Kareema Hassan Hussein, told Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq, (VOI).
Basra province has allocated $25 million for the establishment of 5,000 projects, Kareema explained, adding that most of those who will benefit from the loans are unemployed holders of bachelor's degrees.
The deadline for the loan application is February 22, 2008, she added.
The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
