The South American ally’s President Nicanor Duarte Frutos made the request while attending President Chen Shui-bian’s inauguration last week, but the Foreign Ministry still has to make evaluations, the minister said.

It was the Paraguayan president who broke the news about the proposed loan in Singapore Tuesday after the Taiwan trip.

He was cited by press reports as saying his deputy already received part of the loan — US$30 million — during a visit to Taiwan in February.

He revealed that he collected another US$20 million last week during his stay in Taiwan, and was now waiting for the Taipei’s confirmation for the rest — US$75 million, according to the reports.

The money would be used to build 5,000 public housing units, to bail out four poverty-stricken Paraguayan provinces, and to shelter homeless children, the reports said.

Foreign Minister Chen said Taiwan with its economic power can help the development of its diplomatic ally.

But the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Richard Shih, denied that part of the money had already been delivered.

“The proposal remains at the preliminary stage, and the Foreign Ministry has not yet promised completely,” said Shih.

Shih also dismissed reports that Taiwan helped pay the salaries for Costa Rica’s foreign ministry, claiming the US$250,000 mentioned by the press was meant to help promote the Central American nation’s tourism and trade.

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco admitted Tuesday that Taiwan pays his daughter for her Costa Rican government job, according to AFP.

Pacheco said his daughter Elsa Pacheco, who works at the Costa Rican embassy in Mexico, is paid US$1,500 a month from funds Taiwan gives the foreign ministry.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar said Maria Jose Toledo, sister of the president’s chief of staff and an employee of a foreign ministry program, is paid out of the same private foundation.

The daily La Nacion reported that the foundation has handled, with no oversight, a total of US$4.8 million in donations from the government of Taiwan, which was used to pay foreign ministry officials salaries or bonuses.

Many lawmakers were outraged at foreign funds being handled by a private foundation with no government control.

“We might as well be playing house when we discuss the budget (in the legislature) because the money is coming from elsewhere,” conservative lawmaker Federico Malavassi of the Libertarian Movement said.

Pacheco told reporters his daughter had worked at the embassy as a volunteer but could no longer afford to continue for free so he found a way for her to be paid a salary.

Tovar said the practice of creating private foreign ministry foundations dated back to 1986 but acknowledged some kind of oversight would be in order.

Twenty-six countries, 13 of them in Latin America, recognize Taiwan as sovereign and usually receive development and other assistance.