COFFEE WOES SPUR JOBS PLAN.

President Francisco Flores announced an ambitious economic package designed to create thousands of new jobs in rural areas devastated by the plummeting worldwide price of coffee, reports AP (Sept. 22, 2002). In a national radio and television address, Flores said that starting in October his Government would spend US$185 million on infrastructure projects and farming initiatives designed to help 25,000 coffee farmers and their families find ways to make a living that have nothing to do with coffee. The international price of coffee has dropped sharply in recent years, falling to about US$56 per 100-pound (46-kilogram) bag:

The new program will create jobs in 69 towns and villages in the eastern provinces of Ahuachapan, Santa Ana and Sonsonate where 87% of the population depends on coffee crops to survive. The program will create a US$100 million fund that will extend low-interest loans and farm aid to coffee farmers willing to grow new crops. Another US$85 million will go toward creating construction jobs by building new roads, bridges and schools in the area, Flores said. That money also will go to fund dozens of employment workshops designed to expand the options of the work force in eastern El Salvador;

Flores' announcement came four days before the legislature was expected to allow coffee producers to have more time to pay a US$23 million loan private banks extended the industry. Lawmakers plan to order banks to allow producers another three years to pay off as much of the debt as they can. According to the Salvadoran Banking Association, 75% of coffee producers have paid off their loans.

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Copyright 2002