On June 7th the World Bank approved a package of assistance worth US$451 million to help the Government of Pakistan improve education in Punjab and Sindh, enhance irrigation in Punjab, implement reforms in education and health in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and eradicate polio throughout the country.

The World Bank's Board of Directors approved on June 7th a US$200 million loan to Colombia in order to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs, which seek to protect the poor from the impacts of environmental degradation, particularly in terms of health and productivity.

The World Bank approved on June 5th a US$220 million loan to the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, designed to reduce transport costs and to improve traffic flows on the state's core road network.

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved on May 30th two loans for Uruguay totaling US$112.1 million to support the Uruguayan government with the implementation of its reform program.

Debt is a four-letter word that puts us on parole for the rest of our lives. The cost of living alone is so demanding that debt mounts, mounts, mounts, and breaks us with each heaping rise. We have to pay folding money, pay for apparel, food, gasoline, Uncle Sam fees, rent, installment credit, car payments, institution, etc, that sometimes it is next to impossible not to find yourself humming this four-letter word.