Maintaining his juggling act between domestic and foreign policies, President Clinton has turned his focus to the south to assist the faltering Mexican economy.

However, Clinton's offer of $20 billion to pump up the devalued peso has generated questions about the executive's power to authorize foreign aid on his own.

Clinton decided not to seek congressional support Tuesday because legislators informed him it would be difficult to pass the original $40 billion loan he requested. The International Monetary Fund also promised $17.8 billion to pick up the slack for the shrunken American pledge.

Clinton's action provoked several members of Congress to call for hearings on his justification for dipping into a special treasury fund, which is usually used to increase the value of the dollar, for foreign aid.

But Michael Kim, University lecturer in economics, said he believes that Clinton acted correctly from both a legal and economic standpoint.

Legally, Kim said, the president has the power to use money to increase the value of any currency whenever he sees fit. Economically, he said, the situation in Mexico was becoming too volatile to disregard.

"I think," Kim said, "there had to be quick action to solve the problem." Because there is nothing like an international bankruptcy court, he said Mexico needed help from other nations.

With American intervention now, Kim said the hope is to prevent problems in the future.

"I think this is the sort of help Mexico needs," he said. "It will give time for Mexico to solve its own problems."

However, an ever-present concern is that Mexico will not be able to honor its debt.

"I think Mexico in the long run has the money to pay back the loans," Kim said. "The problem is they don't have the cash right now."

The lack of funds is a problem, Kim said, that exists because Mexico was importing much more than it exported. This discrepancy forced the Mexican government to borrow money to make up the difference in the nation's income, he said.

After Mexico borrowed a considerable amount of money from foreign nations, Kim said people lost confidence in the peso and its value dropped. With the decreased value of the peso the Mexican government could not repay its debts, which led to the present need for further loans, he said.

Many other people agree that the president acted correctly in supplying the funds for these loans.

Charles Mong, president of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, said although the Mexican economy does not have much of an impact on this area, local businesses are in support of the president's action.

"I think most of us in business thought Mexico might have started a domino effect," Mong said. That would have been detrimental to the whole business atmosphere, he said.

Clinton's choice to avoid Congress is also justified, he said, because waiting too long would have added to the collapse.

Matt Coriaty (senior-physics) said although he is not sure Clinton made the best move, he acted on a precedent of America giving foreign aid.

However, Michele Scott (semor-political science) said she thinks the president could have used the funds for better purposes.

"I would think that he should be more worried about our deficit," Scott said. "We've got a huge problem there."