Montenegro signs 80 mln euro World Bank DPL deal
Montenegro said it has signed a long-anticipated development policy loan (DPL) agreement worth 80 million euro ($87 million) with the World Bank aimed at further strengthening the country's fiscal position and boosting green and sustainable development.
"This is a huge and significant step for Montenegro in fulfilling our vision for strengthening the economic growth and providing long-term stability for our country," finance minister Novica Vukovic said in a press release over the weekend.
Montenegro and the World Bank launched negotiations on this loan agreement three years ago, the finance ministry noted. As a pre-condition for signing the loan deal, Montenegro had to fulfil a number of key reforms, including raising its fiscal revenue and improving fiscal discipline, putting pharmaceutical costs under control, improving the management of state-controlled firms, enhancing waste management, introducing sustainable forest management and supporting renewable energy sources.
The World Bank approved the loan earlier this month, saying the project is complemented by parallel financing from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the OPEC Fund for International Development, each providing 50 million euro.
Vukovic said over the weekend that the negotiations on the loan agreements with the AFD and the OPEC Fund for International Development have been completed, and their signing is expected in the coming days.
In June, the government said it intends to sign development policy loans worth a total of 180 million euro with the World Bank, the AFD and the OPEC Fund for International Development, in order to cover part of its 2024 budget needs.
Earlier this month, the World Bank said it kept unchanged at 3.4% its economic growth forecast for Montenegro for the current year, while raising its growth projections for 2025 and 2026 - by 0.7 percentage points to 3.5%, and by 0.2 points to 3.2%, respectively.