World Bank chief in Morocco next week

World Bank President James Wolfensohn will start next Monday a two-day visit to Morocco, WB sources in Washington announced on Tuesday.

Wolfensohn had expressed the intention to visit Morocco during talks he held last week in Washington with Moroccan Economy and Finance Minister Fathallah Oualalou.

The WB chief, who visited Morocco in 1998 had then announced loans worth a total of $440 million to the kingdom.

The North African country is the World Bank's ninth largest borrower. At the end of the 1998-1999 fiscal year, the bank held $3.19 billion of Morocco's total external debt of $17.44 billion, a WB official said.