CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, consolidates as an unconditional ally of the economic and social reactivation of the region, with the approval of seven operations for a total amount of USD 1.650 million that will benefit millions of residents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad & Tobago, in strategic sectors such as social development, water and sanitation, energy, digital transformation, and budget support, among others.
“Improve the quality of life of people with better access to basic services such as water and natural gas, the Argentine National Program Against Hunger (Programa Nacional Argentina contra el Hambre), the promotion of digital transformation, and support for the actions of the governments of Paraguay and Peru to promote economic and social reactivation with resources in an agile and opportune manner, are a sign of the commitment of CAF’s Board of Directors and administration to offer timely responses according to the challenges facing the region”, said Sergio Díaz-Granados, the institution’s executive president.
The operations approved at the CLXXV session CAF’s Board of Directors held in Panama City, within the framework of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Panama’s entry into CAF, are as follows:
- CAF continues promoting the economy, environmental and social recovery in Argentina with USD 440 million.
- CAF approves the increases of the revolving credit line of the regional bank BRDE in Brazil with USD 140 million.
- CAF approves USD 300 million to aid the sustainable development in Paraguay.
- CAF approves USD 650 million to boost the sustainable reactivation and energy transition of Peru.
- CAF approves a USD 120 million loans to boost digital transformation in Trinidad and Tobago
At the end of the CAF’s Directory, the subscription agreements for ordinary capital shares were signed to advance the materialization of the new capitalization of USD 7.000 million approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting last March. The shareholder countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago; with the private banks BISA and Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz from Bolivia, Banco Guayaquil and Banco del Pacífico from Ecuador.
“With the support of CAF’s shareholders, both the countries and the private banks, are advancing in the renewed agenda to be the Green Bank, of economic reactivation and regional integration. Either with the entry of new countries as full members and with this capital increase, we are strengthening ourselves to provide integral solutions to overcome the obstacles we face and generate opportunities that improve the quality of life of Latin Americans and Caribbean people,” added Díaz-Granados.
In addition, within the framework of the activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the incorporation of Panama as a CAF shareholder, the subscription agreements for ordinary capital shares were signed for Chile and Costa Rica to become full members of the entity, while Honduras did so to become a member country directly and be the twenty-first CAF country.
CAF’s mission is to promote sustainable development and regional integration by financing public and private sector projects, and providing technical cooperation and other specialized services. Established in 1970 and currently made up of 20 countries -18 from Latin America and the Caribbean, together with Spain and Portugal- and 13 private banks, it is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and an important generator of knowledge for the region.