The Dominican government has signed loan agreements with Fortis Bank of Belgium for the construction of hospitals in Santo Domingo and the interior for US$169 million yesterday. On the same day, the government approved $6.6 million financing in Euros for the installation of a laboratory to clone fruit trees. The loan agreements were signed by Froidebise Michell for Fortis and Rafael Calderon, Technical Secretary of the Presidency, for the government. The hospitals to be built are 240-bed hospitals in Villa Mella and Los Frailes in the National District (Santo Domingo). Four 120-bed hospitals in San Juan de la Maguana, San Cristobal and San Francisco de Macoris, and two 20-bed hospitals in Laguna Salada, Santiago Rodriguez and Los Patos, Barahona, will also go up.
