Pubdate: Tue, 05 Sep 2000
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 2000 The Billings Gazette
Contact:  P.O. Box 36300, Billings, MT 59101-6300
Fax: 406-657-1208
Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Author: Javier Baena, Associated Press Writer

COLOMBIA SEEKS U.S. FINANCIAL BACKING

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) 96 Colombia's finance minister traveled to 
Washington on Monday to seek U.S. support for a $1.2 billion bond 
offering needed to cover government expenses.  

The trip follows a request during President Clinton's visit last week 
for U.S. tariff exemptions on Colombian textiles and clothing as a 
complement to a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-narcotics aid package.  

Colombia has argued it needs economic help in addition to military aid 
to successfully combat drug trafficking 96 the top U.S. policy priority 
in the South American country that produces 90 percent of the world's 
cocaine.  

Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos was scheduled to meet Tuesday with 
Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and request his help in convincing 
lenders including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to 
back the planned bond sale.  

A U.S. nod of approval will help 93dispel doubts in international 
markets about Colombia's ability to pay its future debts,94 Santos told
 
the local Caracol radio station.  

The trip aims to 93restore confidence94 among international organization
s 
in the Colombian economy, said a statement released Monday by Santos' 
office.  

A severe recession in Colombia has cut into tax revenues, and some 
analysts believe the government will be unable to pay some of its 
estimated 800,000 workers by the end of the year without new funding.  

The opposition-led congress, however, opposes tax increases, public 
pension cuts and state-owned enterprise selloffs proposed by President 
Andres Pastrana, claiming these would unfairly punish the poor.  

Amid escalating violence in a 36-year guerrilla conflict, Colombia has 
seen its currency sharply devalued during the past year, foreign 
investment shrink and the country's debt ratings downgraded.  

U.S. political support was critical to Colombia obtaining $6.9 billion 
in credits a year ago from the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-
American Development Bank.  

During Clinton's one-day visit, Pastrana said U.S. tariff exemptions on 
Colombian products would create thousands of jobs for workers who might 
otherwise find employment in the drug trade.  
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MAP posted-by: John Chase