The Panama Canal expansion project is getting a US$400 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
Panama Canal Authority administrator Alberto Aleman said Thursday that the IDB's approval of the loan demonstrates confidence in the project "despite the world financial crisis."
The US$5.25 billion project to construct two wider locks is expected to double the 50-mile (80-kilometer) canal's capacity. They are scheduled for completion by 2014.
The Panama Canal Authority is borrowing up to US$2.3 billion between 2009 and 2011 to help finance the project. It expects to pay that back by increasing ship tolls an average of 3.5 percent a year.
The waterway now moves about 5 percent of the world's cargo.
Panama Canal Authority administrator Alberto Aleman said Thursday that the IDB's approval of the loan demonstrates confidence in the project "despite the world financial crisis."
The US$5.25 billion project to construct two wider locks is expected to double the 50-mile (80-kilometer) canal's capacity. They are scheduled for completion by 2014.
The Panama Canal Authority is borrowing up to US$2.3 billion between 2009 and 2011 to help finance the project. It expects to pay that back by increasing ship tolls an average of 3.5 percent a year.
The waterway now moves about 5 percent of the world's cargo.