The International Monetary Fund will set up...

The International Monetary Fund will set up a special $8.4-billion fund to help its poorest member nations, most in sub-Saharan Africa, meet their financial obligations. The new fund, proposed last year by IMF Director Michel Camdessus and endorsed in June at the seven-nation economic summit in Venice, brings the amount of aid available for these hard-pressed nations to $11.4 billion. Some 62 countries are eligible for the easy-term loans, which carry an annual interest rate of just one-half of 1%, the 151-nation lending institution said in a statement. The IMF said it had not yet determined precisely how much each industrial nation would be asked to contribute to the new fund.