The World Bank via the Clean Technology Fund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are ready to extend soft loans of 700 million USD to help Thailand develop alternative energy and boost the efficiency of its energy consumption, according to Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul.

The combined loans will be provided at a low interest rate of 1.75 percent and a repayment period of 20-30 years.

The World Bank had assigned Thailand’s Energy Ministry to coordinate the lending, Wannarat was cited by Thailand News Agency as saying.

It also cited Jitendra Shah, Coordinator of the Social and Environmental Development Unit of the World Bank in ASEAN, as saying that the loans might be extended through the ESCO Fund or directly to the state/private sectors./.