Cambodia and the Asian Development Bank have signed their latest loan agreement of US$15 million for the development of the Kingdom’s financial sector, according to ADB.

The money would be used for a number of development programs, including the improvement of regulatory regimes, creation of an inter-bank lending market and increased consumer access to credit, ADB said.

ADB’s loan has a 24-year term, including an eight-year grace period with an interest rate of 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent for the balance of the term.

The loan agreement, signed yesterday, marked the commencement of the third Financial Sector Program (FSP) co-ordinated by  the ADB and Cambodia, as well as the finalisation of the Kingdom’s Sector Development Strategy 2011-2020, ADB senior country economist for Cambodia Peter Brimble said yesterday.

He noted that finance was “a key pillar” of ADB’s partnership strategy with Cambodia.

The bank also offered Cambodia a grant of $1.1 million for technical assistance, with $300,000 of that to strengthen the capacity of the National Bank of Cambodia, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia.

More than $1.5 billion in new and increased loans had been generated, and more than 12,000  jobs created, as a result of more than $75 million in assistance during the first two phases of the FSP since 2001, the ADB said.