Announcement of World Bank Releases First Tranche of Mexican Trade Policy Loan on November 18, 1986

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street . N .W .. Washington . D .C. 20433 , U.S.A BANK NEWS RELEASE Contact: A. Pimenta- Neves (202) 477-5761 WORLD BANK RELEASES FIRST TRANCHE OF MEXICAN TRADE POLICY LOAN Washington, November 18 -- The World Bank today released $300 million to Mexico as the first tranche of its $500 million trade policy loan. The loan, approved by the Bank last July, is the first in a series supporting Mexico's pro g ram of growth oriented structural reforms . Many of the trade liberalization measures had already been implemented by Mexico. "Mexico's resource needs are urgent to finance the costs of its trade liberalization and its investments in expanded output and exports," noted World Bank President Barber Conable. He added that "the progress made by commercial banks now l ea ds me to believe that they will soon fully commit their share of new res ou rces to Mexico." The $300 million f rom The World Bank is avai la ble immediately for withdrawal by the Mexican Government. The loan assists Mexico to secure greater domestic economic efficiency and increased international trade competitiveness in order to generate domestic growth, higher employment and additional non-oil export revenue . As part of the trade liberalization program, Mexico has recently joined the GATT, eliminated import restrictions on more than half of the total value of imports and reduced maximum tariffs from 100% to 45 %. At the same time, the Government announced that it would remove all import reference prices by the end of 1987 and gradually reduce the tariff range to 0-30 % by November 1988 . The World Bank is prepared to support M exico's program of economic adjustment in the next several years through follow-up trade policy loans, an agricultural sector loan, and specific industrial restructuring projects . Its lending program for infrastructure and other sectors of the Mexican economy will also be expanded. The World Bank's support for Mexico's economic recovery program is also indicated by its willingness to guarantee a portion of some of the new loans included in the financial package negotiated between M exi co and private commercial banks. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U. S . dollar equivalents .