17380: (Chamberlain) IADB grants Haiti $201 million in loans (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Inter-American Development Bank and
the government of Haiti on Thursday signed loans totaling $201.9 million to
reform public finances, rebuild basic infrastructure and services, and
boost farm output.
     Since resuming lending to Haiti in July after it fell into arrears
with the bank, the IADB has approved more than $400 million in loans for
the impoverished Caribbean country.
     The latest loans include $25 million to help authorities better manage
public finances, which will reduce discretionary spending.
     The program will establish a calender and rules for drafting budgets.
The public expenditure system will be computerized to give the treasury
reliable data and help it implement a budget monitoring system.
     Another $70 million will help finance the rehabilitation of basic
infrastructure to stimulate economic recovery, the bank said.
     It also said $65 million more will support a local development program
to expand access to basic social services in an attempt to reduce poverty
in this island nation of about 7.5 million people.
     A $41.9 million loan will support a program to increase and diversify
agricultural output in the Artibonite Valley, the country's main
rice-growing region, which was ravaged by a hurricane in 1998.