ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Hearst Newspapers
Mexico announced Wednesday that it was paying the final installment of a controversial $13.5 billion emergency loan extended by the Clinton administration during the height of Mexico's 1995 financial crisis.
In a White House ceremony, Mexican Ambassador Jesus Silva Herzog said a final payment of $3.5 billion would be transferred to the U.S. Treasury by Monday, thereby repaying the loan three years ahead of schedule.
The early repayment vindicates President Clinton, who had come under Republican criticism for offering the bailout package during Mexico's sharpest recession in more than six decades.
The repayment also paves the way for Clinton to proceed with plans for an April trip across Latin America that would include a visit to Mexico.
Clinton, referring to criticism of the emergency loan package he authorized two years ago, said Wednesday that the U.S. loan ``protected the strong and growing market for American products that supports 700,000 jobs here, and we helped Mexico on the road to recovery.''
Administration officials said the U.S. Treasury received slightly more than $580 million in interest payments on the loan.
Republicans in Congress had criticized Clinton for offering Mexico financial aid at the time, arguing that the United States could not afford to help its southern neighbor. Critics also said Mexico would likely default on the money it borrowed.
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, one of the most vocal critics of the emergency aid package at the time, told reporters in a March 20, 1995, news conference the bailout would ``go down in history as one of the most misguided operations in American history. This is an outrage. It's shocking. It's wrong. Our currency reserves are not the president's personal piggy bank. We should not make ourselves the `international welfare house.'''
D'Amato did not have an immediate comment Wednesday.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB