BOLIVIAN LEADER ANNOUNCES MEASURES

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- President Hugo Banzer announced an emergency
economic plan to bring Bolivia out of an economic slump blamed in part
on the war on cocaine trafficking and a regional recession.

Banzer, speaking on national TV Sunday evening, said the measures are
necessary to alleviate an economic crisis and boost Bolivia's economy.

The measures include the establishment of a $500 million fund to offer
short-term loans for farmers hurt by devastating floods and lower
export prices. The fund would also assist manufacturing companies,
which have seen a drop in demand.

Banzer also announced the elimination of a 5 percent tax on the import
of capital goods required by the industrial and handicraft sectors,
loans for low-income housing projects and investment of up to $750
million in new road construction projects.

One of the president's top priorities has been to rein in cocaine
trafficking activities in Bolivia before his term ends in 2003. His
government has made significant inroads into controlling contraband
activities that employed tens of thousands of people.

But the destruction of more than half of the country's coca leaf
production has also left thousands of Quechua and Aymara Indian
farmers without a livelihood and depressed the economy in regions
where cocaine trafficking activities once thrived.

Bolivia's economy has been growing at an average of 4 percent a year
until last year when economic growth barely reached 2 percent.
Two-thirds of Bolivians, however, live in poverty.

Bolivia, a country of eight million located in the heart of South
America, is a pioneer in structural economic reforms, which are
considered a model for the region.