This disbursement follows the signing in May 2009 of an agreement between Burkina Faso and the European Union by which the latter undertook to support the government of Burkina Faso in its efforts towards economic growth and fight against poverty for a six-year period (2009-2014).

The contract concluded in the framework of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) is the largest program of general budget support in the history of development cooperation between the European Union and a member of the African-Caribbean-Pacific region forming the ACP.

The MDG contract is designed especially to support the country's efforts in the areas of health and education.

According to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Lucien Bembemba Noel "the contract, which comprises two phases, 2009-2011 and 2012-2014, provides the government significant resources to meet the challenges but also a period of three years to cope and strive for concrete results".

In the opinion of the Delegation of the European Union in Burkina Faso, the 2009 disbursement was made possible because the country has maintained a "good macroeconomic stability despite the difficult international situation".

The EU underlined that Ouagadougou has made progress in the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy and has satisfactorily achieved progress in implementing reforms in public finance.

-APA