Announcement of the World Bank's Consultative Group Meeting for Peru on May 10-11 in Paris

05/06/94 10:50 WB LACSA 202 522 3698 + 202 676 0637 NO. 140 P002/002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C, 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE 99 on6 Cotact: Antonio Pimenta-Neves (202) 4734722 METING OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP FOR PERU WASHINGTON, May 6, 1994 -- The Consultative Group of donor nations and international institutions assisting Peru will meet on May 10-11, in Paris, under the auspices of the World Bank. The group will review the status of the economic reforms introduced hy the Government, update information on Peru's progress toward poverty alleviation, review public sector spending, and evaluate the need for further technical and financial assistance to the country. Peru has made significant progress on its far-reaching and bold economic stabilization and structural reform program, which was initiated In August 1990. The program is designed to lay a solid foundation for long-term economic development and poverty reduction. Alongside economic reform, the Government of Peru has made poverty alleviation one of Its fundamental objectives. Poverty issues are being addressed by policies that encourage broad-based economic growth and, more directly, by the emergency social fund, FONCODES, which finances community-based projects that improve the poor's access to social services and infrastructure. The Government's accomplishments have been set against a backdrop of severe fiscal constraints exacerbated by extremely low tax collection. The Government is reassessing its expenditures in light of fiscal difficulties and the need to increase relevant social and capital expenditures. Technical assistance to support the Government in implementing these and other reforms will play a critical role. The meeting which will be held in the Bank's Paris office (66 Avenue d'Iena, 75116, Paris), will be chaired by Mr. Rainer B. Steckhan, Director of Country Department 1, Latin America and the Caribbean Region. The Peruvian delegation will be led by Mr. Jorge Camet Dickman, Minister of Economy and Finance and Governor of the World Bank. Ten donor countries and nine other international organizations besides the Bank will be represented. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Pan-American Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, the European Commission, the Andean Development Corporation and the World Food Programme. Minister Camet will hold a press conference with Mr. Steckhan at 3:30 p.m., on Wednesday, May 11, in the Bank's Paris office.