The Tallinn city government became the first local authority in the Baltic to sign a non-guaranteed loan agreement for 20 million euros with the Nordic Investment Bank, after the city's credit rating was recently upgraded by Moody's to A3, according to local press reports.

The five-year loan, part of the 2003 budget plan of Estonia's capital, will cover expenses related to education, social housing, municipal services and road construction.

The Nordic Investment Bank, a financial institution owned by the five Nordic countries, finances major private and public projects that have high priority for the Scandinavian region.

The bank has issue a total of 250 million euros in outstanding loans issued to Estonian entities.

Tallinn city government will invest a total of 55 million euros in 2003 into city development.

(NewsBase 12.v.03)