Mobutu to seek huge injection of Western aid

Press, 14 June 1978, Page 9

Mobutu to seek huge injection of Western aid

NZPA-Reuter Brussels Zaire will appeal to its creditors at a two-day meeting that started in Brussels yesterday for help in sorting out the problems of its ailing economy. The conference, longsought by Zaire, has taken on an added urgency in view of last month’s rebel invasion of Shaba province which contains the country’s copper wealth. Diplomatic sources said that Zaire would outline a recovery plan worked out by President Mobutu Sese Seko and costing somewhere between SUSI.S billion and $5 billion. The plan laid emphasis on four sectors — agriculture, infrastructure, mining, and administrative reform — they said. Zaire’s total external debt now stands at about SUS2.S billion, according to Western experts. Its economy has suffered seriously from a sharp fall in the world price of copper, which accounts for 70 per cent of its hardcurrency income. But Zaire’s creditor countries have also argued that the problem stems more from mismanagement than lack of resources, and they want to be sure that any aid will be used efficiently.

The meeting in Brussels has been organised by Belgium, Zaire’s former colonial ruler.

Those attending include senior officials from 11 countries — Belgium, France, Britain, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran — as well as experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the European Common Market Commission.

Belgian officials said that Zaire had a agreed in principle to let an I.M.F. official take a top job in its central bank.

Western experts have already been appointed to head the country’s railway, river transport, and electricity systems, and more might help in its budget, Customs, and tax-collecting offices, the officials said. Zaire has exhausted two credit arrangements with the 1.M.F., which seems certain to lay down tougher conditions before extending more credit. The fate of a SUS22O million five-year loan from a consortium of Western banks depends on the negotiations with the 1.M.F., Belgian officials said.