LUSAKA (Reuters) - The European Union (EU) and the World Bank have released a total of $97.2 million to Zambia for improving its farming and health sectors and road network, a senior Treasury official said.

Evans Chibiliti, the secretary to the Treasury, said the EU had given Zambia almost $60 million in direct budget support while the World Bank released a $37.2 million, partly as a loan and partly as a grant facility agreed with Zambia in June.

"The European Union has disbursed $45 million as direct budget support ...while the United Kingdom has disbursed $14.4 million as direct budget support," Chibiliti said in a statement.

Chibiliti said $12.2 million of the $37.2 million World Bank money would be a loan facility to provide credit to farmers while the balance would be used to improve rural roads.

Chibliti said part of the British funds would be used to provide free medical services after Zambia scrapped medical fees for people in rural areas in April.

Zambia has won support from donors after the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other western lenders slashed the country's foreign debt to $502 million in July from $7.2 billion in June 2005 under global plans to cut debt owed by some of the world's poorest nations.