China Development Bank (CDB) said on Thursday it has allocated 1 billion yuan (about US$147.1 million) for emergency loans to support the fight against drought.

The first loans involving 32 million yuan were extended on Wednesday, the bank said. The money will be used to protect maturing crops, restore farm production and build irrigation facilities in seven hard-hit areas including Suqian, Lianyungang and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province.

The bank was ready to offer loans to other drought-hit places, such as Hebei, Henan and Gansu provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, CDB said.

CDB offered 5.44 billion yuan of emergency loans in 2008 after such disasters as the May 12 earthquake in southwestern China and the severe snowstorm that hit southern China early last year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2009)