RABAT, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) will loan Morocco 240 million U.S. dollars to support two infrastructure projects.

Moroccan Economy and Finance Minister Mohamed Benchaaboun and managing director of the fund Abdullatif Yusuf Al-Hamad, inked on Wednesday in Rabat two financing agreements totaling 72 million Kuwaiti dinars (240 million U.S. dollars), said a statement of the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The loan will contribute to the financing of the heightening of a dam project in eastern Morocco, and building the Laayoune expressway bypass in the south of the country.

The project of the dam will improve water regulation in the dry oriental district and as for the highway, it will strengthen the links between Morocco and the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, added the statement.

Since 1975, the Arab Fund has invested more than 4.4 billion dollars in 72 strategic sectors of the Moroccan economy, the statement said.