Micro lending for small businesses is common in some countries, especially in the developing world.

But with the economic recession, micro lending is growing in the United States because it's difficult to get a bank loan to start a small business, especially for people with low incomes.

A private group is lending money to low income people in Washington so they can follow their dream. The loans range from $500 to $50,000.

Fidel Garcia is the owner of Capital Pilates and Patrick Carl is co-owner of the Capital City Diner. Both were able to start businesses in Washington with a small loan from the Latino Economic Development Corporation.

Garcia is a Cuban immigrant who opened his pilates exercise studio in November in an upscale neighborhood after retiring as a professional ballet dancer.

He applied for loans at many banks but was turned down. Then he went to LEDC and got $10,000. "It was a great help, because at that point, I really needed that money to help (buy) equipment, and with the rent. And I am very thankful to them because I really needed that extra push that they gave me," he said.

Patrick Carl and his business partner say LEDC let them borrow $35,000. "They walked you through the process like you were family. It wasn't so business-like that it was uncomfortable or difficult or surprising. It was just helpful," he said.

The Latino Economic Development Corporation began the lending program more than 10 years ago to help Hispanics, but now provides loans to anyone with a low income.

"We look to see how much a client can afford to pay and that's how we determine how much they get -- how much a client has available after they've paid all of their expenses to be able to take on a new debt," said Charlene Van Dijk, the lending manager.

She says more than half the clients are Latino. "There's a huge immigrant population in Washington. We have a bunch of Ethiopian clients. We have clients from Southeast Asia."

LEDC is often the last stop for people with low incomes who want to set up small businesses. "We've worked with an accounting firm, an autopsy service, and a lot of on-line services, companies that are starting on-line businesses," she said.

Financing is also given to restaurants like the Capital City Diner, which was constructed in the 1940s. The diner was moved by truck from a small town in New York to a low income neighborhood in Washington.

"We bought the entire restaurant, the entire building, plates, dishes. We found the diner on E-bay. We live in the neighborhood and there's no place for breakfast. There's no sit-down restaurants and it seemed like a good opportunity for us," said Patrick Carl, co-owner, Capital City Diner.

Capital City Diner opened two months ago, and like Garcia's pilates studio, business is booming. "On any given day, you can have a rich person next to a poor person. It could be anybody who can walk in because everyone wants good food at good prices in a comfortable atmosphere," he said.

Garcia says after he pays off his loan, he plans to apply for another small loan from LEDC. "Because the studio has to grow. And there are a lot of people who want to take classes," he said.

Last year, LEDC handed out $600,000 in small loans. Only one client has not repaid a loan, after he lost a job that helped support his business.

The Greek debt crisis remained a key topic on the sidelines of world economic talks of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington.

The head of the IMF and Greece's finance minister expressed confidence that negotiations over a massive emergency loan package for the country would end soon.

Speaking at a news conference at IMF headquarters, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said negotiations to secure $60-billion in loans from European governments and the International Monetary Fund are going well.

He expressed confidence that Greece could meet its deadlines for loan payments coming due in mid-May and that talks would conclude as soon as possible. "I think early May is a good ball-park figure. I do not want to give a particular date. We all know that these negotiations take weeks.

We are working very fast," he said. Papaconstantinou said the loan package framework has strong conditions, to help assure its European and IMF lenders, as well as fiscal measures to reassure Greek citizens efforts are being made to end the country's financial crisis.

The finance minister downplayed concerns that some European Union members were not fully supportive of the loan package and quickly shot down a question about what Greece might do if the loan was not approved by May. "There is no if. The support mechanism will be ready during the month of May. And there is absolutely no one in Europe or outside it that has a different opinion to this," he said.

In an interview published in a mass-circulation German newspaper (Bild am Sonntag), German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as saying that the final decision on the package could either be positive or negative. Germany could be one of the biggest contributors to the Greek bail-out plan. Greece has accumulated more than $400-billion in public debt. The country is seeking emergency loans of about $40-billion from European countries and an additional sum of more than $13-billion from the IMF.

In a statement, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said everyone trying to help Greece understands the "need for speed." Officials in Europe and the IMF have made it clear to Greece that their support is contingent on efforts by the country to put its fiscal house in order.

Greece has agreed to begin an austerity program that cuts civil servants' pay, freezes pensions and raises taxes. That program has triggered massive street protests and labor strikes in Greece.

During the past few days of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, the 186 countries that own the World Bank Group have endorsed a boost in its capital by more than $86-billion. They also agreed to give developing countries more voting rights, increasing the voting power of developing and transition countries by a little more than three percentage points.

A World Bank said the "historic changes" will also help position the poverty fighting institution to help what it called a "transformed world" as it emerges from the global economic crisis.