QUITO, Ecuador?China will loan a billion dollars to Ecuador for energy, oil, and telecommunications projects and a Chinese company is interested in investing another billion dollars in agricultural projects, Ecuadoran authorities said Tuesday.

"We expect to be signing this billion dollar credit at the end of the month," said Maria Dolores Almeida, the vice minister of finance.

She said the credit would be in addition to a $1.7-billion loan from the Eximbank of China for the construction of a 1,500-megawatt hydroelectric plant.

"With these resources we are going to be able to finance investment projects that have been given priority," she said.

Planning Minister Rene Ramirez said the Chinese funds would be used to finance telecommunications, energy, oil, irrigation, and agriculture programs.

He added that the Chinese company CAMC, which makes construction equipment, wants to invest another billion dollars in silos, grain distribution centers, and irrigation systems in Ecuador.