BID Invest granted Calox de Costa Rica S.A. a loan that will help the company invest in substantial improvements in its production capacity and seek international certifications to validate the quality of its products.
The project has two main objectives. The first is to acquire the existing plant to make improvements in infrastructure and energy efficiency in order to become certified and expand its production capacity in the medium term.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a $24 million extension of an existing line of credit, funds that will be invested in the implementation of sustainable production models and forest management and reforestation.
These funds will be used to increase financing for the "Bio-CLIMA Project: Integrated Climate Action to Reduce Deforestation and Strengthen Resilience in the Bosawas and Rio San Juan Biosphere Reserves" on Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast.
The German Development and Investment Bank will grant a $19 million loan to Cooperativa de Productores de Leche Dos Pinos R.L., part of which will be invested in modernizing and expanding two production plants.
Other projects to be financed with the proceeds will include the renovation of the cold chain infrastructure and improving efficiency in the use of resources during the production process.
The Inter-American Development Bank approved two lines of credit totaling $500 million, resources that will be used by the Government to finance the public budget and policy reforms to ensure fiscal sustainability and maintain macroeconomic stability.
One of the approved lines incorporates contingency measures to increase spending related to the health emergency and targeted support to households and businesses affected by the crisis, informed the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
As a result of the sanitary crisis caused by the covid-19 outbreak, hotel occupancy in Panama has fallen to historic levels and business income has gone up in smoke, a situation that is forcing hotels to look for options to renegotiate their debts.
It is estimated that in this context of economic crisis, Panamanian hotels owe $630 million to financial institutions.
The Inter-American Development Bank approved a line of credit, whose funds will be used to finance a program that seeks to increase the country's digital connectivity levels by strengthening institutional and operational capacity.
With a $70 million investment, of which $45 million will be financed by the ordinary capital of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and $25 million by the Korean Fund for the Co-financing of Infrastructure Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (KIF), the program will increase the institutional and operational capacity that will allow the development of a digital agenda and improve connectivity, through investment and improvements in the conditions for the adoption of digital infrastructure solutions, according to an official statement.
A few months before the expiration of the law that establishes a moratorium on loans granted by banks, cooperatives and public and private financial institutions in Panama, the banking sector expects that these benefits will not be extended.
In Costa Rica, a good part of the population is significantly indebted, since it is estimated that two out of every five consumers dedicate 38% or more of their monthly income to debt repayment.
The Office of the Financial Consumer (OFC) conducted during November 2020, the first survey of "Indebtedness of Costa Rican households", for which 1,200 people from all over the country, aged between 18 and 65 years old, were interviewed.
For 2021, some of the financial institutions competing in the Costa Rican market are betting on placing loans for the purchase of homes, consumer loans and business financing.
In Costa Rica, home purchase loans were already showing positive signs at the end of 2020, since in November of last year the amount of the loan portfolio in question reported a 7% year-on-year increase.
Given the agreement reached by the Alvarado administration and the IMF for Costa Rica to access a $1.75 billion loan, the business sector is calling for a reduction in public spending and for detailed information on the scope of the agreement signed by both parties.
In an attempt to ease the fiscal and economic crisis the country is going through, last year the Alvarado administration began negotiations to access a loan for $1.75 billion to be requested from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Inter-American Development Bank approved a line of credit that the Panamanian government will use to finance the second Program to Support Reforms in the Energy and Water and Sanitation Sectors.
The program aims to contribute to the sustainability of the energy sector, as well as to the increase in coverage and improvement in the management of drinking water and sanitation services, through a series of policy reforms aimed at strengthening and complementing the regulatory and institutional framework of both sectors, the international organization reported.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a line of credit for the country to finance the Project for the Expansion of the Drinking Water Supply System in the City of Gracias, department of Lempira.
The project consists of developing the hydraulic infrastructure necessary to increase the quality and quantity of water supplied by the supply system of the city of Gracias, Lempira, which currently has average interruption periods of 168 hours, reported the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a line of credit that the government will use to finance programs in the education, health, housing and road infrastructure sectors.
The loan is aimed at the Multisectoral Program for Economic Reactivation and Social Protection (NIC-Solidaria), which aims to initially support at least 41 projects and programs of public investment, production and social assistance, reported the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
In this scenario of economic crisis, the Nicaraguan market reported a 25% decrease in the balance of the vehicle loan portfolio between December 2019 and September 2020.
Data from the Superintendence of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (Siboif) detail that at the end of last year the balance of the loan portfolio requested to buy a vehicle amounted to $199 million, but in this context of falling productive activity generated by the outbreak of covid-19, the balance recorded as of September 2020 fell to $149 million.
CABEI and the Costa Rican authorities have signed a contract to extend the "Strategic Road Infrastructure Works Program" for a further $91 million, which finances, among other works, the construction of the Northern Beltway.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) informed that the $91 million addendum, in addition to the $340 million of the Program, will allow the construction of the Northern Beltway Functional Unit V which maintains a cost of $70.5 million, as well as the reinforcement and modernization of the bridge over the Virilla River on National Route 32.