Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- China Development Bank quadrupled a credit line to its counterpart in energy-rich Kazakhstan after oil prices plunged.

China Development Bank agreed to increase a $100 million line of credit for infrastructure, energy and metals projects to $400 million, the Astana-based National Wellbeing Fund said in a statement today.

Kazakhstan, the biggest oil producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia, plans to spend 2.2 trillion tenge ($18.3 billion), or almost 20 percent of its gross domestic product, to help its economy weather the global financial crisis. The Wellbeing Fund, which controls the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, is the primary conduit for the bailout program.

China Development Bank agreed in February to lend Kazakhstan $100 million for infrastructure projects in the energy and metals industries. The Wellbeing Fund said last month it will seek more than $3 billion from China, Russia and Europe via “export loans” to finance industrial projects in Kazakhstan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nariman Gizitdinov in Almaty, via the Moscow newsroom at ngizitdinov@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 25, 2008 04:23 EST