The following operations were approved in recent weeks by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).
Argentina
A $100 million loan from the IDB’s ordinary capital to enhance the productive capacity and competitiveness of small businesses and microenterprises.
A $100 million IDB loan to support primary health care reform in three Argentine provinces .
A $33.1 million IDB loan from the ordinary capital and a $40.7 million syndicated loan to help finance a road and toll bridge across the Paraná River. The bridge, which will be operated by a private company under a concession, will connect the city of Rosario in Santa Fé province with Victoria, in Entre Ríos.
A $3,687,000 MIF grant to help develop a national system of labor skills certification.
Belize
A $3.6 million IDB loan to help improve the quality of animal and plant health services and enhance the competitiveness of the country’s agricultural products, especially in international markets.
Bolivia
A $52 million IDB soft loan from the Fund for Special Operations to upgrade a section of the Pan American Highway, Bolivia Route No. 1, as well as to improve access roads, road management, vehicle weight control and maintenance.
A $2.7 million IDB soft loan from the Fund for Special Operations to finance civil society projects to improve access to justice among the poor.
A $20 million IIC loan and a $15 million loan to Banco Bisa S.A. to provide small and medium-sized companies in the industrial, agribusiness, and service sectors with medium-term financing for expansion, purchase of machinery, equipment, and working capital.
Brazil
A $300 million IDB loan to finance the first phase of a 12-year, $2.2 billion program to support fiscal and administrative modernization in 772 municipalities. The program will eventually be extended to more than 3,800 municipalities .
A $146 million IDB loan to the state of Bahia to improve the road network through paving, rehabilitation, maintenance, and administrative modernization.
A $50 million IDB loan from the ordinary capital and a $45.9 million syndicated loan to a private sector concessionaire for the construction, rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of a toll road system to link the cities of São Paulo, Jundiaí, Campinas and Limeira.
An $841,000 MIF grant to strengthen labor dispute negotiation and mediation processes.
Honduras
A $1,700,000 MIF grant to promote competitiveness among the country’s small and medium-sized companies.
Mexico
A $6 million IIC loan to Grupo Calider S.A. de C.V. to modernize and expand lime production facilities in Monterrey as well as to secure sources of raw materials and market expansion.
A $48.8 million IDB loan from the ordinary capital and two syndicated loans for a combined total of $86.8 million to Fuerza y Energía de Hermosillo, S.A. de C.V., to support the development of a private sector 250 megawatt combined cycle natural gas power plant.
Nicaragua
A $1.2 million MIF grant to help create a regulatory oversight body for pensions and develop a legal framework for a new pension system.
Perú
A $300 million IDB emergency loan to strengthen the capacity of the financial system and a $10 million loan for technical assistance to complete financial sector reforms.
A $10 million IIC loan and a $20 million loan under the IIC’s cofinancing program to Banco Internacional del Perú to provide small and medium-sized companies with medium- and long-term debt and leasing financing.
An $842,400 MIF grant to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses.
Trinidad and Tobago
A $10 million IIC loan and $30 million loan under the IIC’s cofiancing program to Republic Bank Limited to on-lend to small and medium-sized companies in the Caribbean region.
A $900,000 MIF grant to increase the effectiveness of the utilities sector by establishing the appropriate legal, regulatory and institutional framework to make the Regulated Industries Commission fully operational.
Uruguay
A $77 million IDB loan to improve the quality of life in irregular settlements and to support a policy review to improve housing for low-income communities.
A $1,266,000 MIF grant to help establish a business development center.
Venezuela
A $770,830 MIF grant to strengthen the Arbitration Center of the Caracas Chamber of Commerce.
Regional
A $10 million MIF equity investment and a $170,000 MIF grant to promote productive investment in Latin America by facilitating joint ventures in the region among Spanish and Latin American companies.
A $998,000 grant from the Japan Special Fund to strengthen the capacity of Latin American and Caribbean nations to reduce the harmful social and economic effects of the periodic El Niño climate phenomenon through better scientific monitoring and meteorological forecasting.