Washington, 28 August 1997 (RFE/RL) - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is in Tirana, Albania, this week for talks centering on emergency economic assistance.
An official at IMF headquarters in Washington says the team is reviewing the possibility of providing $12 to $13 million in quick help under the fund's post-conflict emergency assistance program.
That type of aid, which so far has only gone to Bosnia and Rwanda, is designed to help the country stablize sufficiently so it can qualify for more normal IMF and World Bank lending.
The IMF told Tirana officials at last month's international conference on Albania held in Rome that the country's economic problems remain very serious. It said the government must provide adequate security around the country for normal economic functions to resume.
The IMF team in Tirana is due to leave at the end of next week.