FRANCE GRANTS LOANS TO CROATIA

PARIS, April 12 (Hina) - Croatian Ambassador to France, Branko Salaj, visited on Tuesday, April 11, the director of the French institute for business insurance COFACE, Francois David, and talked with him about Croatia's political position and economic perspectives after the latest round of international negotiations, Croatian Embassy in Paris said today. Francois David said that the French government had allowed to the institute to grant to Croatia short-term commercial loans and investments in an unlimited amount. French medium and long-term credits would be granted in this year up to the value of 150 million francs and they would be available as soon as Croatia signed with France an agreement on regulation of its previous debts in line with recently signed agreement with the Paris Club. Salaj thanked David for the trust the French government and its institute had shown in the stability of Croatian economy and stressed that it was a great help in strengthening trade relations and French investments in Croatia. The agreement on the regulation of previous debts should be signed during the next couple of weeks and would remove last obstacles in the normalization of trade relations. (hina) rm 121127 MET apr 95