Economic development bonds awarded to 58 tribes

Posted at: 09/15/2009 2:47 PM
By: The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Nearly five dozen of the nation's American Indian tribes will share $1 billion in bond authority through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Gov. Bill Richardson and U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin announced the bonds Tuesday during a visit to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The two also met with local tribal leaders on how tribal bonds will be used to create jobs and complete projects in Indian Country.

Wolin says the tribal bonds will give Indian communities access to lower cost borrowing to build schools, hospitals and roads.

Three New Mexico pueblos are receiving bond authority, including Acoma Pueblo, which plans to use $5 million to build a steel production facility in rural New Mexico.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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