In Panama, the National Assembly authorized the transfer of $11 million to finance the rehabilitation of tourism projects in Isla Colón, the Antón Valley and the construction of the Boquete convention center.
Regarding the administrative management to provide the funds, the National Assembly reported that the Budget Committee was responsible for approving two transfers of items from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries to the Panama Tourism Authority.
Within the framework of the political and economic crisis that has limited access to international loans, Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a $100 million loan with a Taiwanese bank, at the request of the Ortega administration.
After U.S. President Donald Trump signed a law known as the "Nica Act" in December 2018, which limits Nicaragua's access to international loans, Daniel Ortega's government has been forced to seek new sources of financing.
CABEI granted a loan to Banco de Costa Rica, which will be used to finance operations by SMEs and business clients in the industrial, agricultural, and cooperative sectors.
The financing was made under the modality of disbursement of global line of credit, intended for working capital and boosting Costa Rican productive sectors, informed a source of the executive.
For the construction guild, in El Salvador it is essential to improve the financing conditions offered by banks to give greater impetus to the construction of low-cost housing.
In December of last year, the Salvadoran Chamber of the Construction Industry (Casalco) announced that they were preparing a law proposal, which contemplated the approval of preferential interest rates on loans for home purchases.
At year-end, according to corporate financing, the bank loan portfolio totaled $13.793 million, 6% more than at the end of 2017.
Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero (SSF) reported that the balance of the loan portfolio of financial institutions operating in El Salvador increased by $767 million between 2017 and 2018, rising from $13.026 million to $13.793 million.
A loan from the Inter-American Development Bank will finance the construction of a new hospital and the implementation of an automated information system in Honduras.
From the IDB press release:
December 12th, 2018. The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $53.8 million loan to build a new hospital in Honduras that will improve trauma and emergency care services both in the capital Tegucigalpa and the central-southeast region of the country. Through the construction of this hospital and an improvement in health care services, the plan will boost living standards and enhance care for patients with external injuries, in addition to easing the workload at the University Hospital.
Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica signed a loan contract with the FCC Consortium to finance the six-lane extension of the beach corridor in Panama, Section I: La Chorrera-Santa Cruz.
The project "Expansion to six lanes, Las Playas Corridor, Section 1: La Chorrera-Santa Cruz, which has an approximate length of 36.3 kilometers, and begins at the end of the Arraiján - La Chorrera highway and ends at the entrance to Santa Cruz (before the crossing over the Lagarto River)," was awarded in November 2017.
In Panama, the executive authorized a credit line of up to $50 million for the state-owned Etesa to finance investments contemplated in the electric expansion plan.
The approval for the Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica, S.A. (Etesa) to subscribe a line of credit with Banco General, will allow the state company to partially finance maintenance works to the electrical distribution network in the country.
The Latin American Development Bank approved a loan to finance projects to improve the drinking water distribution system in the country's metropolitan area and other provinces.
The Board of Directors of the Latin American Development Bank (CAF) approved a USD 200 million loan to the Republic of Panama to support the National Investment Program for the Water and Sewerage Sector (PRONAISA).
The National Port Company Santo Tomás de Castilla will seek external financing to develop the expansion works planned for the port terminal in the next five years.
According to the representatives of the Empresa Portuaria Nacional Santo Tomas de Castilla (Empornac), in the next five years a cruise terminal will be built, one for solid and liquid bulk, and another for containers.
In Nicaragua, the license of CrediFactor S.A. to offer securities to the public was revoked due to the difficulties the company is facing in paying for the securities.
The executive president of CrediFactor, Mauricio Pierson Stadthagen explained to Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... The country's situation decelerated the rate of recovery of the portfolio they had been recording, which was funded with the issuance of bonds in which individuals invested. The factoring company did not take deposits from the public."
Although up to July loans granted by Nicaraguan banks totaled $5.047 million, 5% more than in the same month in 2017, since May it has been decreasing month by month.
Credit granted by the financial system increased 5.4% year-on-year in July (8.4% in Jun-18), reaching a gross portfolio of 162,568.2 million of cordobas. However, in terms of levels, the credit shows a decrease for the third consecutive month, reported the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
The General Comptroller of Costa Rica partially approved the $20.7 million trust fund for the San José-San Ramón road corridor.
In a document published on the General Comptroller website on October 10th of this year, it was reported that the approval is given to the trust fund for this road work that consists of the modernization of a 60 kilometer stretch of road between San Jose and San Ramon.
Because of the hike in interest rates in the United States, several banks in Panama are already increasing mortgage rates by between 0.25% and 0.50%.
According to representatives of the Banking Association of Panama (ABP), the increase in mortgage loans is mainly due to the upward adjustment that interest rates are experiencing worldwide, which will affect the Panamanian market in the short and medium term.
In Honduras it has been reported that the $80 million that will be granted to the coffee sector is in the stage of consultation, risk analysis and verification of loan conditions.
Representatives of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé) reported that two banking entities presented their proposals to manage the financing, which will be under the modality of syndicated credit, which consists of several institutions lending the funds, but only one will manage them and establish the conditions.