The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $150 million loan for the Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund, marking the first time a financial institution will channel a large volume of private pension resources for infrastructure investments in Mexico.
The IDB loan is expected to be supplemented by contributions from private Mexican pension funds (known as Siefores), the National Infrastructure Fund (Fonadin), and other local and international capital sources. The eventual size of the Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund is targeted at approximately $1.1 billion.
The partnership between the IDB and Macquarie will make it possible for Mexico’s largest source of liquidity, the Siefores, to play a significant role in financing critical infrastructure projects, and in so doing contribute to the government’s National Infrastructure Plan. The plan anticipates that domestic demand for infrastructure investments by 2012 will total $206 billion, of which $45 billion would be provided from private sources.
“With this operation, the IDB will simultaneously contribute to optimizing Mexico’s capital markets and support the government’s strategic objectives in the basic infrastructure sector,” said Andrés Ackermann, IDB project team leader.
The fund will help to finance works in such sectors as social infrastructure (hospitals, schools, etc.), energy (including renewable energy), water and sanitation, toll roads, railroads, ports, airports, and telecommunications.
“These investments will mobilize local resources for expanding and improving infrastructure that directly improves the welfare of Mexico’s people, and particularly of low-income families,” said Daniela Carrera, manager of the IDB’s Financial Markets Division.
Macquarie—part of the Macquarie Group, an Australian firm working in the field of international banking, finance, advisory services, and investment and administration of funds—has considerable experience in the field of infrastructure and currently administers more than $100 billion in assets in this sector.
The IDB loan initiates a strategic partnership with one of the most important international private investment firms in the infrastructure sector.