World Bank OKs loans to Azerbaijan, Iraq
Azerbaijan 
BAKU, December 21, 2016 – The World Bank on Tuesday approved a USD 800-million loan to Azerbaijan and Turkey for the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) project and a separate USD 1.49-billion loan to Iraq to help offset low oil prices.
Turkey and Azerbaijan each will receive USD 400 million for TANAP, which is set to carry gas from BP’s Shah Deniz 2 development on the Caspian Sea to markets in Turkey and later Europe. The 1,850-kilometre pipeline is expected to cost around USD 10 billion in total and transport some 16 bcm (565 bcf) of gas per year by the middle of 2018.
“We are very pleased to be part of a coalition of partners supporting TANAP, a component of the transformational Southern Gas Corridor, which will bring natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe,” Cyril Muller, the World Bank’s vice-president for Europe and Central Asia, said in a statement.
“TANAP will not only boost competitiveness and create economic opportunities for people in Azerbaijan and Turkey, it will also support regional trade, improve connectivity, and support energy security in Turkey and in Europe.”
Separately, the World Bank offered Iraq a package of USD 1.49 billion, part of it guaranteed by the UK and Canada, to support reforms and stimulate economic growth and job creation.
“Despite an ongoing war and low oil prices, Iraq is undertaking bold transformational reforms that will safeguard economic stability and lay the foundations for longer-term private sector development and inclusive growth for all Iraqis,” Ferid Belhaj, the World Bank’s director for the Middle East, said in a press release.
“The reforms will help build trust between Iraqi citizens and their government, by making the management of public funds more efficient and transparent and expanding social safety nets to reach the most vulnerable segments of the population.”
The package comes on top of previous loans and brings the World Bank’s total exposure to Iraq to some USD 3.4 billion, the statement added.
The IMF is also heavily involved in the reconstruction efforts of the war-torn country. Earlier in December, the fund released a USD 618-million instalment of a three-year, USD 5.34-billion loan programme to Iraq approved in July.
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