(NOUAKCHOTT) - The World Bank has given Mauritania a loan of 8.5 million euros (13.5 million dollars) to improve business conditions in the country, Mauritanian news agency AMI said Wednesday.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday between Economy and Finance Minister Abderrahmane Ould Hamma Vezzaz and World Bank official Francois Rantrua.

The loan must be used primarily to help improve the financial, corporate and legal sectors, AMI said.

It must also be used to help strengthen the regulatory environment in Mauritania and bring about the restructure of certain public corporations, the agency said.

The loan must further promote economic stability, growth, free market forces and the development of investments, Rantrua said.

Mauritania, a poor, largely desert country, joined the small group of African oil-producing nations in February 2006.

But its Chinguetti field, estimated to contain about 123 million barrels of recoverable oil, has failed to meet expectations.

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