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Aid will not push AP into debt trap: Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has rejected the Congress criticism that borrowings from the World Bank and other international agencies would push the state into a debt trap. He asserted that they would go a long way in restructuring the economy, creating wealth and generating employment.

Addressing the media in Hyderabad, he said his government, unlike the erstwhile Congress regime, was investing for making the economy vibrant and create assets. ''They (the Congress) had borrowed but assets were not created and money was misused,'' he counter-charged.

The World Bank had last week cleared a Rs 22 billion aid for the Andhra Pradesh Economic Restructuring project.

Naidu said his government would follow internationally accepted norms in respect of borrowings and was also planning to execute all the loan-related works ahead of the scheduled five-year deadline -- in 2003.

He said Rs 11.29 billion would be spent on irrigation, Rs 7.18 billion on roads, Rs 6.74 billion on education, Rs 4.39 billion on nutrition, Rs 2.80 billion on public health and Rs 1.04 billion on public sector reforms.

UNI