Countryside is set to reap benefits from a $120-million World Bank loan

Poland has signed an agreement with the World Bank for a $120 million "farm" loan. The loan plus a further $180 million from the Treasury and local authorities will be spent on development of rural areas, including education and infrastructure. "The money will not be placed into one Ministry, as it will be also be spent in other areas," said the World Bank's local director Basil Kavalsky. The interest rate on this soft loan will be 4.8%. Poland has already borrowed $4 billion. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1, 13) M.M. Labor Fund doesn't have enough money to finance unemployment benefits A draft amendment has been proposed in the Sejm to give the Labor Fund the right to take out loans for the payment of unemployment and "pre-pension" benefits. The draft was introduced by the government because the Labor Fund' s liquidity has been threatened. The Labor Ministry says the present situation has been caused by the higher-than-predicted inflation rate and the entitlement of a higher-than-expected number of people to benefits. Two Sejm commissions have proposed the fund should become a separate legal entity. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 9) E.B.