EU awards EUR 26m to Guinea-Bissau
(BISSAU) - The European Union has granted Guinea-Bissau 26 million euros (37 million dollars) to help pay public employees and settle internal debts, the west African country's finance ministry said on Friday.
Finance Minister Joao Mario Vaz signed a budget agreement with the EU's representative in Bissau, Franco Nulli, on Thursday, a ministry source told AFP.
Vaz said the money would allow Bissau, one of the world's poorest countries, to pay salaries owed to civil servants from 2003 and 2008. "From January we will be able to tackle a number of problems. This really is a lifebelt," the minister said.
According to a finance ministry source, Bissau's account at the Central Bank of West African States would begin the new year in credit, for the first time in several years.
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