|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai is seeking $2.5 billion in loans to finance a 15-kilometer extension of its metro line to the World Expo site, Bloomberg reported quoting unnamed sources.
The news agency said banks have submitted various proposals, including a $1.34 billion facility backed by European export credit agencies. Lenders also bid for a $1.12 billion unsecured, commercial facility that is guaranteed by the Dubai government, the report said.
The credit line reportedly includes commercial loans of 10 year maturities from international banks as well as an ECA-backed facility with longer tenure.
Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority in June awarded a $2.9 billion metro-rail contract to a consortium including France’s Alstom SA, Spain’s Acciona SA and Turkey’s Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut AS. The project involves extending the line from the Nakheel Harbour and Tower Metro station to the Expo 2020 site located in the south of Dubai.
According to Bloomberg, Alstom will supply 50 trains to the project, Thales will provide technological systems, while Acciona and Gulermak will build the project. Construction of the project is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.
Dubai Expo is expecting 20 million visitors, for which infrastructure projects worth about $8 billion, including hotels, new metro rail links, shopping malls and airport and metro expansions.
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