WORLD BRIEFING / EL SALVADOR
Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes announced a plan to invest $587 million in public spending programs in an effort to stimulate the economy.
Funes, a leftist elected this year, said the money would build low-income housing, provide farm supports such as seeds and fertilizers to the rural poor and hire more police to curb spiraling crime.
He told reporters that the funds would come from internal tax collection and support from international lending institutions.
Funes led the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, founded by former Marxist guerrillas, to victory in elections in March for the first time since the end of the 1980-92 civil war after a series of right-wing governments.
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