MANILA -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to approve a $150 million loan to Afghanistan, its first lending program for the war-torn nation in 23 years, sources close to the Manila-based institution said.

The sources told Reuters conditions would include reforms to be made by the administration of President Hamid Karzai but that, unlike most ADB program loans, the money was likely to be given to Afghanistan all at once rather than in tranches. "It's actually kind of a vote of confidence in the government," said one source. "It's a $150 million-equivalent program loan."

Afghanistan needs the money and much more to rebuild after the U.S.-led war to oust the Taleban, years of civil war and the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.

The rugged country's economy and infrastructure are in shambles with millions of landmines buried in farm land, factories in ruins and a generation of women without much formal education.

In January, a conference of donor nations pledged $4.5 billion to help rebuild Afghanistan but Kabul has complained that little cash has so far turned up. The World Bank estimates $10.2 billion is needed over the next five years for reconstruction.

Karzai's administration is creating a national army and banning private militias to try to bring stability, especially outside of the capital Kabul.

But security is still a major issue as powerful warlords battle for power and remnants of the Taleban and the Al Qaeda movement -- Washington's prime suspect in the September 2001 attacks on the United States -- lurk in mountain hideaways.

The sources said the ADB's Executive Board began a meeting on Wednesday morning and that a formal announcement about the loan approval would be made at a news conference.

"There still is a discussion but, generally speaking, whatever is tabled is approved," one source said.

Details of the loan terms and conditions were not immediately available.

The ADB announced a $15 million grant to rebuild some of Afghanistan's roads in October but has provided no formal loans to the country in more than two decades.

Karzai met international officials in Germany this week to mark a December 2001 agreement on a post-Taleban government but officials said the Bonn conference did not pledge new funds.

Washington is hoping donor nations will pay off Afghanistan's $47 million in debt to international institutions in coming weeks and open the way to significant new loans.

The ADB's Director General for South Asia, Yoshihiro Iwasaki, said in October the billions pledged by international donors over the next five years would enable the economy to return to six-percent growth levels seen in 1998.