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Arafat to visit IMF

WASHINGTON: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is expected to visit the International Monetary Fund on Friday to review economic policy issues with IMF management and staff, the fund announced Tuesday.

An IMF team will visit the West Bank and Gaza later in the month "to develop a comprehensive economic policy framework," an IMF statement said. IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus welcomed efforts by Arafat's Palestinian Authority "to substantially improve financial transparency, fiscal discipline and good governance," the statement said.

Camdessus said in the statement that a decree signed by Arafat to create a Higher Council for Development was "a decisive step in the development of the Palestinian economy."

Arafat arrives Thursday in Washington, where he will also meet US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

He is also to attend a US-Palestinian meeting to discuss a $900 million aid programme. AFP