The head of the International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus, who is on a visit to Tajikistan, says he will recommend that the republic be granted a one-hundred and twenty million dollar loan to help rebuild its war-damaged economy.

Speaking in the capital Dushanbe after talks with President Emomali Rahmonov, Mr Camdessus said the Fund would discuss the loan at its next meeting in June and if the outcome was positive Tajikistan could receive the first twenty million tranche within three weeks.

He said further installments would be paid out every six months over a three year period.

Mr Camdessus is in Tajikistan as part of a visit to Central Asia.

On Thursday he was in Kazakhstan but will not be visiting Uzbekistan whose IMF loan programme was suspended last year.