On May 21, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill (H.R. 192) that would provide small loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners in developing countries. H.R. 192 would allocate $175 million in FY2003 and $200 million in FY2004 for the microenterprise loans administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In FY2001 and FY2002, Congress allocated $155 million for these loans.
The measure also would require USAID to measure the poverty levels of potential loan recipients as a way to guarantee that half of the loans are given to the bottom 50 percent of inhabitants living below each country’s poverty line or to those who live on $1 or less per day.
Last week, the House approved H.R. 192 (see The Source, 5/16/03). Both the House and Senate approved similar bills (H.R. 4073/S. 3032) last year; however, the measure was sent back to the House due to technical changes.
