USAID to donate 30,700 tons

USAID to donate 30,700 tons

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The U.S. Agency for International Development will donate 30,700 tons of rice and 1,040 tons of a wheat/soy blend to Indonesia under title II of the PL-480 program, a USAID spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The rice is valued at about US$15.4 million and the wheat/soy blend at about $447,000, the aide said. USAID will also pay for about $7 million in ocean freight and other costs to get the food aid to Indonesia.

The donation is planned for fiscal 1998, which ends Sept.r 30. USAID hopes to have at least the first tranche of the shipment in Indonesia by June, the spokeswoman said.

Under a related program, the U.S. Agriculture Department plans to provide $25 million in long-term, low-interest food assistance loans to Indonesia in fiscal 1998.

Those funds are tentatively earmarked for Jakarta to buy 82,800 tons of wheat, 15,400 tons of rice and 33,200 tons of soybeans from the United States.