The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) approved granting a $137 million loan to Ecuador’s largest banking institution, Banco Pichincha.

According to the regional organization, the funds will be used to “promote inclusive and sustainable growth in the Ecuadorian productive sector.”

The bank issued a statement on Friday, February 21, detailing that the loan is of type A/B, aimed primarily at “micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) led by women and also at environmental sustainability projects.”

The funds authorized by CAF are expected to be used to finance companies that help promote productive activities for efficient energy management and the development of green businesses.

Antonio Silveira, CAF’s vice president of the private sector, said that “the operation is an example that it is possible to join forces to support the development of a sector that is strategic for the Ecuadorian economy, such as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.”

The general manager of Banco Pichincha, Santiago Bayas, also spoke about the granting of the funds, indicating that “these financings reinforce the confidence of regional and global banks in Banco Pichincha, reaffirming our commitment to our clients and sensitive segments of society.”

M.Pino

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La entrada CAF granted a $137 million loan to Ecuador’s Banco Pichincha apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced at the end of last December the end of the use of Bitcoin as official currency. The measure was imposed by the International Monetary Fund after reaching an agreement to grant the Central American country a loan for $1.4 billion.

As is known, approximately four years ago, El Salvador adopted the main cryptocurrency on the market as its official currency. However, with the agreement for the loan that the IMF will grant, the country will resume the use of the US dollar as its official currency.

In this sense, the government will have to relax its policy in favor of BTC, which will not be required as a form of payment to the private sector, for example, and the participation of the private sector in activities related to Bitcoin will be limited.

However, Bukele’s advisors on cryptocurrencies indicate that expansion plans with Bitcoin will be maintained, since it is a key strategy for the development of El Salvador

M.Pino

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La entrada El Salvador abandons Bitcoin and returns to an economy based on the US dollar apareció primero en Bitfinance.

In the midst of a severe financial crisis, Argentina received a loan from the CAF for USD 960 million to pay the International Monetary Fund, as indicated by the Central Bank.

Spokespersons for the organization indicated that the country “will make the necessary efforts to restore the validity of the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

The short-term credit was approved by the Development Bank of Latin America, CAF, and will be used to make the payment corresponding to a debt maturity with the IMF.

In the words of the new president of the nation, Javier Milei, this is the first great achievement, recently assumed the mandate, aimed at avoiding default. The CAF loan will provide the country with liquidity for the “payment of debt services that come due next week with the IMF, an organization to which the South American country owes some 46 billion dollars.”

For its part, the CAF issued a statement explaining the procedure for granting this money, indicating that other multilateral banks participated under the coordination and consultation of the IMF.

Milei, who since his presidential campaign showed a radical position on economic and financial matters, announced last Tuesday “a severe adjustment plan with the aim of recovering fiscal balance in 2024, which includes spending cuts and tax increases, in addition to a 50 % devaluation in the Argentine peso that took place last Wednesday.”

The measures have been welcomed positively by the IMF, as it believes that they will help significantly improve public finances.

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La entrada CAF grants loan to Argentina for USD 960 million to pay the IMF apareció primero en Bitfinance.

In an important announcement, the World Bank approved a loan worth $190 million for the execution of an ambitious project to improve educational quality in Ecuador. This project, which will focus especially on rural areas of the country, aims to intervene in 1,200 schools, where around 12,000 teachers teach and approximately 790,000 students study.

The loan, with a variable margin and a term of seventeen years, including an eight-year grace period, was announced in a statement issued by the World Bank on September 29.

The project has multiple facets, all aimed at strengthening education in Ecuador. Firstly, it will focus on improving school infrastructure, promoting the health and well-being of students through the creation of resilient, inclusive and energy efficient spaces, designed to address the climate risks to which the country Is exposed.

In addition, a curricular update will be carried out for early education teachers, incorporating innovative pedagogical models that will boost the quality of teaching in the classrooms, thus preparing students for their entry into school.

The project will also provide classroom equipment and resources, including the creation of reading spaces through library networks in marginalized rural areas.

A highlight of the project is its contingent emergency response component, which will allow the reallocation of funds in the event of disasters to serve schools whose infrastructure has been affected.

The selection of the schools that will benefit from this loan was based on criteria that include the level of poverty measured by the index of unmet basic needs, the security risk according to indicators of violence in the areas where the schools are located, and the concentration of migrant population.

The director of the World Bank for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, Issam Abousleiman, expressed his support for this investment in safe and suitable schools, highlighting the importance of improving the teaching-learning process in a country exposed to multiple climate threats.

Ecuador’s Minister of Education, María Brown, also praised the loan, stating that it “will contribute to increasing educational access and quality in more than 1,200 educational institutions nationwide” and is expected to double enrollment and improve quality. education by 2028, providing better opportunities to children and adolescents, especially at the initial education level.

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La entrada World Bank approved a loan for Ecuador’s education apareció primero en Bitfinance.

In an announcement that resonated with great importance, Argentina and Brazil closed a pact of historical relevance on Tuesday. The Development Bank of Latin America-CAF played a crucial role by offering guarantees for a value of 600 million dollars to support exports from Brazil to its neighboring country to the south.

Directly from the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, the protagonists of this agreement, the Minister of Economy and presidential candidate for Argentine Peronism, Sergio Massa, and his Brazilian counterpart, Fernando Haddad, shared the news with the public. This transcendental step took place after a high-level meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Massa, who simultaneously held the positions of minister and candidate for the presidential elections on October 22, described the intervention of the multilateral bank in this agreement as an “unprecedented” step. He assured that this action would pave the way to revitalize the commercial exchange between Argentina and Brazil, a relationship of great importance in the global panorama.

According to Haddad, the 600 million dollars would also have the backing of Banco do Brasil, a state entity. These funds would have a special focus on financing commercial transactions in the automotive and food sectors.

Haddad illustrated this perspective with concrete examples. In the event that the 600 million were allocated to the automotive sector, Brazil could export components for this figure and, in turn, acquire vehicles manufactured in Argentina. This approach would significantly contribute to increasing the flow of foreign currency in the neighboring country, which faces challenges in terms of the availability of dollars for international trade.

Massa, for his part, qualified that this agreement was still subject to certain procedures. Among them, the meeting of the board of directors of the Development Bank of Latin America-CAF, scheduled for September 14, stood out. Both he and Haddad expressed confidence that this operation would be fully approved by that date.

This event marked the first bilateral meeting between officials from Brazil and Argentina after the expansion of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) forum, which added six new members as of January 1, 2024: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

Massa highlighted both the political and economic relevance of this coalition and, in a clear presidential campaign strategy, lamented the position of certain sectors in Argentina that did not celebrate the entry into this prestigious alliance. Although he did not mention them by name, he was referring to far-right Javier Milei and center-right candidate Patricia Bullrich, who are running against Massa as the main contenders in October’s elections.

Milei, the leader in the polls, responded to Argentina’s invitation to join the BRICS by declaring that, if elected, he would not promote any type of agreement “with communists.”

Bullrich, for her part, also expressed her opposition and argued that Argentina should not ally itself with Ukraine’s “invading Russia” or with Iran, a country she linked to anti-Semitic terrorist attacks that occurred in Buenos Aires years ago.

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La entrada Argentina and Brazil signed a historic pact to boost trade apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a US$35 million loan for Argentina’s Knowledge Economy Export Support Program to assist the country by providing human capital and developing and adopting technologies based on knowledge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the promotion of its international insertion.

According to the IDB, Argentina has great potential to increase its participation in the exports of goods and services in this sector, which is currently at relatively low levels. The total percentage of world exports that comes from Argentina went from 0.45% to 0.26% in the last 10 years, which is explained by macroeconomic and sectoral factors.

This program covers different challenges, among which are the need to increase trained human capital, the lack of collaboration between the scientific and technological system and the productive sector, and the lack of capacities to promote the knowledge economy sector by national and subnational trade and investment promotion agencies.

To address these challenges, the program will implement actions aimed at training a generation with skills in advanced technologies demanded by companies with internationalization potential, as well as promoting the development and adoption of AI-based applications in exporting companies or with export potential.

Likewise, the loan will allow Argentina to implement activities to contribute to a greater internationalization of companies in this sector, which include the implementation of national, subnational and sectoral development strategies, and development actions and international positioning of the sector.

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The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a loan for El Salvador for a total amount of 100 million dollars (92.3 million euros) to support the growth of micro, small and medium-sized companies in the country, in line with strengthening its productive fabric.

As explained by the bank in a statement, these funds will finance lines of credit from the Development Bank of the Republic of El Salvador (Bandesal) in order to promote the expansion of access to medium- and long-term productive credit for Salvadoran SMEs.

The promotion of this type of loan will help companies in El Salvador access formal lines of credit, something common only among 29 % of SMEs in the country. Specifically, according to data from the Salvadoran Banking Association, 99 % of the microenterprises in the Central American country, particularly those dedicated to commerce, regularly access informal loans under bribery financial conditions.

This loan is the third individual operation under the Conditional Credit Line for Investment Projects (Cclip) for access to business and housing credit in El Salvador.

The first operation was approved in July 2020 for 400 million dollars (369 million euros) to promote productive activity and social welfare in the Central American country. This third loan has a 25-year repayment term and a grace period of five and a half years.

“This operation is expected to increase the income from sales and employment of the beneficiary SMEs, generating effects on the female business fabric, since 30 % of the funds are focused on companies led or owned by women,” they explained. from the IDB.

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La entrada The IDB will finance El Salvador with 92 million euros apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The economic vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, announced on Monday that “this payment of 1,000 million euros is the first part of our macro-financial assistance package of 9,000 million euros to help Ukraine meet its emergency financial needs caused by because of the brutal war in Russia.

The Community Executive has detailed that the first payment, of 500 million euros, has been made this Monday and a second tranche, of 500 million euros, will be disbursed on Tuesday, August 2 in the form of long-term loans under favorable conditions.

This is the first disbursement of a total of 9,000 million euros that make up the macro-financial aid package announced by the European Commission on May 18 and which was later supported by the Twenty-seven and the European Parliament.

In this regard, the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, has indicated that “work is already being done on a proposal for the second part of this macro-financial aid, as announced in May and approved by the European Council.”

The disbursement of 1,000 million euros is part of the EU’s effort to provide aid to Ukraine to meet its economic needs after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and is complemented by the 1,200 million euros of emergency macro-financial aid granted in the first half of the year.

“We will continue to support the Ukrainian people, politically, financially and with military means, to face the adversity and challenges caused by Russia’s aggression,” said the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell.

As in other previous macro-financial aid loans, the Community Executive takes funds in the form of loans from international markets and transfers them to Ukraine under the same conditions. This loan is backed by 70 per cent of the value by amounts set aside from the EU budget.

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Source: dpa

La entrada Brussels disburses 1 billion euros in aid to Ukraine apareció primero en Bitfinance.

CAF approved the disbursement of 1,650 million dollars corresponding to seven loans destined to support the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean, with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago as beneficiaries.

These operations are intended for strategic activities in the continent such as social development, water sanitation or digital transformation, among others. “The objective is to improve the population’s access to basic services such as water or natural gas,” explained the institution’s executive president, Sergio Díaz-Granados.

Argentina will receive a loan of 440 million dollars (431.4 million euros) to “promote” the economic, environmental and social recovery of the country. For its part, Brazil will receive 140 million dollars (136 million euros) as part of the increase in the revolving credit line of the regional bank BRDE.

In the case of Paraguay and Peru, they will receive 293.2 million euros and 635 million euros, respectively, to promote sustainable development. Finally, the loan to Trinidad and Tobago will amount to 117 million euros, with the aim of supporting digital transformation.

The executive president of the bank has highlighted his commitment to advancing in the economic reactivation of the region in an environmental key to provide solutions with which to overcome obstacles and generate opportunities “that improve the quality of life of Latin American and Caribbean people.”

Additionally, within the framework of the activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the incorporation of Panama as a shareholder of CAF, the subscription agreements for ordinary capital shares were signed for Chile and Costa Rica to become full members.

Source: dpa

La entrada CAF approves seven loans for the economic recovery of Latin America apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $300 million loan to support the energy transition process in Chile, according to a statement.

This is the second and last operation of a policy reform support program in the Andean country. The first $50 million operation was approved by the IDB in June 2021.

Among the actions to be implemented in this second operation are critical pricing processes to reflect the modernization of distribution regulation and guarantee an affordable electricity service, as well as accelerating the participation of the population in the use of clean and sustainable energies that displace fossil and polluting energies.

Likewise, it will support the decarbonization of the energy matrix and, among other measures, the formulation of energy scenarios and projections consistent with carbon neutrality in 2050, in order to update the Long-Term Energy Planning, the acceleration of the coal-fired plants, the elaboration of the first just transition strategy, and the regulation to facilitate intermittent renewable connections and electricity storage.

In addition, the program will advance in closing the gender gap by promoting equal pay, the inclusion of more women in the energy sector, and gender parity in civil society institutions associated with the energy sector.

On the other hand, it is expected to promote technological innovation with the approval this year of the National Electromobility Strategy, new regulations to define the rules for the implementation of electric vehicles in line with the Energy Efficiency Law; the launch of the vehicle replacement program of high distance, as well as the implementation of the regulation in green hydrogen and support to promote the first green hydrogen projects in the country.

The loan has a repayment term of 16 years, a grace period of 5½ years, and an interest rate based on SOFR.

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Source: dpa

La entrada IDB grants loan to Chile for energy transition apareció primero en Bitfinance.