SANTO DOMINGO: The preparatory committee for the March 31 Haiti donors summit proposed Wednesday giving the quake-devastated Caribbean nation more than US$4 billion in reconstruction funds.

"Donor countries and multilateral organizations on Wednesday approved a US$3.8 billion fund the government of Haiti will receive over a period of ...

... 18 months," Dominican Economy Minister Temistocles Montas said, reading from a committee statement.

Another US$350 million will also be approved to shore up Haiti's state budget, he told reporters at the close of the committee that was jointly chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive and Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez.

Some 28 donor nations will meet on March 31 at the United Nations in New York to pledge aid for earthquake-battered Haiti and help chart its recovery.

At the conference, Haiti will outline its long-term needs as it tries to rebuild from the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and left more than a million homeless, the US State Department said.

Senior officials agreed to organize the conference during an initial meeting on January 25 in Montreal.

- AFP/sc

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