Development banks restart Myanmar lending after arrears cleared

Yangon - The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have restarted lending to Myanmar after it cleared about 900 million dollars of arrears to the banks, officials said Monday.

"The bank group is now fully engaged in supporting development programmes to benefit all of the people of Myanmar with financial and technical assistance," the World Bank said.

The arrears were paid via a bridge loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation approved by the government in Tokyo, a World Bank spokesman said.

"This is in fact the beginning of a new country programme after a 25-year hiatus," a World Bank spokesman said.//DPA