ANTANANARIVO, May 13, 2008 -- The World Bank (WB) provided a grant of 40 million U.S. dollars to support integrated economic growth (IEG) in the Indian Ocean island country.

WB country manager to Madagascar, Robert Blake, and Madagascan Minister of Finance and Budget, Haja Nirina Razafinjatovo, signed related documents here on Monday for the additional funding of the IEG project, according to L'Express, a French-Language daily, published on Tuesday,

Robert Blake told the media that the additional amount was aimed at accomplishing the project objectives for which the original fund was insufficient.

The fund was to strengthen small companies, to improve the infrastructure of communication, to develop the energy resources and to improve the implementation of the project.

Its overall objective was to create an economic climate for stimulating and promoting economic growth in south, central and northwest regions of the country, the paper added.

The initial amount for the project, announced in September 2005 and scheduled to close before January 2011, was 129.8 million U.S. dollars.