EEPP Program Support Unit 

EPF Operating Manual   General Principles 

Establish the applicant and project profiles for grants 

Establish criteria for approving applications for grants. 

Establish priorities, and evaluation and selection criteria.  

Establish terms and conditions for disbursing grants and repayment of grants if project is 

abandoned 

Establish application and processing procedures 

5.2.3  Grants will be directly managed by the EPF in accordance with applicable 

disbursement guidelines and project cycle management procedures (Section 6). 

Interest Rate Subsidies 

A second type of EPF project support is a grant in the form of an interest rate subsidy for 

investment projects.  The interest rate subsidy is attached to a commercial loan to reduce the 

interest charges levied on the borrower.  Interest rate subsidies will be extended to loans 

provided by banks that have signed agreements with EPF or by banks with which applicants 

maintain a banking relationship.  

While the technical analysis and evaluation of all interest rate subsidy applications will be 

conducted by the EPF staff or consultants, all final financial and credit analysis will be 

completed by the cooperating bank.  Procedures governing interest rate subsidies are 

provided in Section 6 of this Manual and are enumerated in signed agreements with banks 

(see Annex 4). 

Specific guidelines for establishing the interest rate subsidy program are as follows:  

Establish the total amount of EPF expenditures available for the interest rate subsidy  

portion of the Competitive Projects Program. 

Establish the applicant and project profiles for interest rate subsidies. 

Establish criteria for approving applications for interest rate subsidies. 

Establish priorities, and evaluation and selection criteria.  

Establish terms and conditions for disbursing interest rate subsidies on a per project basis. 

Establish co financing requirements (i.e., applicant resources excluding the loan to which 

the interest rate subsidy is applied) for interest rate subsidies 

Establish application and processing procedures 

Soft Loans 

These are loans financed by the Fund and managed by cooperating commercial banks and 

other financial intermediaries.  These soft loans feature attractive loan terms compared to 

those available in commercial capital markets, as follows:  

Reduced interest rates, similar to net interest rates for commercial loans for which interest 

rate subsidies have been applied (Section 5.3). 

Longer repayment terms   either through provisions of grace periods or extended 

repayment periods.  

EEPP PSU 

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INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES GROUP