ALMA ATA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank plans to extend 300 million U.S. dollars in fresh loans to Uzbekistan in the next three years, local media in Tashkent reported Thursday.

    The World Bank representative office in Uzbekistan was quoted as saying that the loans will be extended between the 2008 and the 2010 fiscal year, funding programs ranging from environment protection, social welfare to agriculture.

    The loans will be repaid in 40 years, including a 10-year preferential period with an annual interest rate of 0.75 percent.

    Uzbekistan became a World Bank member state in 1995. Up to now, the World Bank has provided 654 million dollars in various types of loans to the Central Asian country.