Peru to seek $80m in loans for agricultural sector

Peru's government Tuesday approved a request to apply for loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank (WB) worth 80 million U.S. dollars to help modernize the agricultural sector, Minister of Agriculture Milton von Hesse said. The minister said the loans, each half from the IDB and WB respectively, are part of refundable credit cooperation programs. Von Hesse said the money is earmarked for modernizing the country's agriculture as part of the government's social inclusion policy. The fund, combined with the 100 million contributed by the Peruvian government, will finance the National Agrarian Innovation Program set to begin in 2014 and conclude in 2018. According to the minister, the program will benefit some 250,000 people in the high Andean mountain region, living in communities situated more than 1,500 meters above sea level, through technical assistance, infrastructure work and vouchers for purchasing fertilizers.