The Iraqi presidency council approved a Japanese loan agreement of $490 million to finance two water development projects in Basra and rehabilitate the power grid in Iraq's Kurdistan region, a presidential statement said.
"On Sunday, the presidency council approved a Japanese loan agreement presented to Iraq in the form of letters and a report, and signed on July 31, 2007 between the Iraqi minister of finance and the Japanese ambassador in Baghdad," read the statement that was received by Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq, (VOI).
"The agreement is concerned with a 57.716 billion yen loan given to the Iraqi government to finance water development projects in Basra and reconstruct the electricity sector in the Kurdistan region," the statement explained.
The agreement, which had been discussed and approved by the Iraqi parliament, was signed by Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani and his deputies Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul Mahdi, the statement added.
