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ADB loan to boost tea sector

MANILA, Wednesday (AFP) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 30-million-dollar loan package to Sri Lanka to boost productivity in its tea sector, a bank statement said Wednesday.

A plantation fund will be set up to invest in equity and quasi-equity instruments as an alternative to collateral-based lending, complementing the privatization of regional plantation companies, the Manila-based ADB said.

"The assistance will help producers of primary commodities become agribusiness entities which can provide better salaries to attract and retain talent in the sector," ADB senior economist Loh Ai Tee said in the statement.

The ADB will provide a 20-million-dollar soft loan that matures in 32 years, as well as a 10-million-dollar loan at market rates.

The bank loans account for a portion of the 114.4-million-dollar Plantation Development Project.

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