World Bank loan to reach Lithuania in July

VILNIUS (ELTA) - World Bank board might take its decision to grant a
$100 million structural adjustment loan to Lithuania at the end of
June, meaning half of the loan sum might reach Lithuania in the third
quarter of this year, most probably in July. That's the word from the
World Bank director for Baltic countries and Poland, Basil Kovalsky,
at his meeting with Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius on
Jan. 11. Kubilius received the findings of the World Bank's mission
which had been working in Vilnius for a month on arranging the
structural adjustment loan.

On Jan. 11 the WB chief economist for Lithuania, Ardo Hansson, and
Kovalsky arrived for a brief visit to Lithuania to learn the
Lithuanian prime minister's reaction to the WB recommendations and
conclusions.

"In principle, Kubilius' reaction was positive. He said that our
recommendations had much in common with government plans,"said Mantas
Mockus, WB representative in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian government and WB agreed on the necessity of reforms
in agriculture and social security sector, as well as restructuring
of the energy sector and its privatization, he said. On Jan. 12 the
World Bank representatives were to meet officials of Lithuanian
institutions to decide the technical issues of the structural
adjustment loan. The World Bank is to grant Lithuania the second
tranche of the loan within six months-to-nine months after the first
tranche of the loan.

The bank will determine whether Lithuania has effectively implemented
its proposed economic reforms. The amount of the loan is still to be
determined.