Maputo, Mozambique — The European Union will grant ozambique about 65 million US dollars in support of a macro-conomic programme for poverty reduction, under an agreement signed Friday in Maputo.

Mozambique's Finance Minister Luisa Diogo and the EU delegate, Javier Puyol, signed the agreement.

The money will be used in areas believed to have a direct impact on poverty reduction. These include expansion and improvement of education and health services, supply of clean drinking water, improvement of roads, and reforms of the public sector and the judicial system.

Puyol said the agreement was a sign of the EU's confidence in the Mozambican government and its management capacity.

Despite problems, he said the reforms undertaken by the government have given positive results.